Najmul Hossain Shanto continued his magnificent form as captain in the ongoing first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle. After scoring 148 runs in the first innings, Shanto scored an unbeaten 56 in the second innings as the series opener marched towards a draw in Galle, a rarity these days. The Galle track, unusually, didn't break as much as it was expected and the batters enjoyed the flatness of the surface even on the fourth day, with just 23 wickets falling.
Shanto became only the second Bangladesh captain after Shakib Al Hasan to score a century and a half-century in two innings of the same Test and now has the best aggregate. Shanto overtook Mushfiqur Rahim, who has 200 runs to his name - the total runs by a Bangladesh captain in a Test match (204 as of now) and has the opportunity to add to his tally on Day 5 of the ongoing Test.
Most runs in a Test match by a Bangladesh captain
204 - Najmul Hossain Shanto* (vs SL), Galle 2025
200 - Mushfiqur Rahim (vs SL), Galle 2013
187 - Shakib Al Hasan (vs NZ), Hamilton 2010
172 - Mushfiqur Rahim (vs NZ), Wellington 2017
168 - Mahmudullah (vs NZ), Hamilton 2019
Shanto's marathon knock helped Bangladesh pile on 495 runs in the first innings. At 331/3, Sri Lanka looked like taking a reasonable lead with Pathum Nissanka and Kamindu Mendis going great guns. However, a middle and lower-middle order collapse meant that the hosts fell 10 runs short of Bangladesh's score in the first innings. Opener Shadman Islam and Shanto got set again and Bangladesh were already 187 runs in the second innings with seven wickets remaining.
Shanto, who has had concerns about captaincy and leading Bangladesh, would be glad with his returns with the bat and would be keen to get a few more to stop the conversation about his position.
With this being the final Test for Angelo Mathews, Sri Lanka would be keen to dismiss Bangladesh cheaply by lunch or an hour into the post-lunch session to get to bat again and let Mathews finish it off on a high, regardless of the result, which highly likely would be a draw.
