Photo: Firoz Ahmed
Bangladesh batter Najmul Hossain Shanto managed to transcend his white-ball form into Test cricket as the left-handed batter smashed a 175-ball 146 against Afghanistan on the first day of the only Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
The top-order batter, who has been the subject of trolling on social media, marked his first Test ton at home with his trademark ‘flying kiss’ celebration which many thought was directed at his doubters but Shanto made things clear saying that he does the celebration after managing to score runs and it was solely for the purpose of rejoicing his accomplishments.
“I can’t do celebrations when I don’t score runs. I feel like celebrating after scoring runs. It is not directed towards anyone. I do it for me,” he told the reporters on Wednesday.
“A century is of course special especially when you’re playing at home. This is one of the best grounds for us and so considering that, it is very special,” he added.
Shanto took home the player of the series award in both the Tiger’s last two ODI series against England and Ireland but struggled to carry his form into the red-ball game as before this innings, he managed only a solitary half-century in the last 10 innings in the format.
