Najmul Hossain Shanto clocks second 50-plus score as Test captain
Albeit in a losing cause, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto smoked a fine 82 in the final innings of the first Test against India in Chennai. He played this knock in a chase of 515, where Bangladesh were folded for just 234. Shanto was the only one from his team to cross the 40-run mark. Notably, this was his second 50-plus score as captain.
An innings of character from Shanto
Shanto, who scored 20 in his first outing, arrived to bat with the scorecard reading 62/1. The southpaw batted with remarkable intent and completed his fifty at the stroke of Day 3. The youngster continued to bat well on Day 4 morning as well. He even looked set to cross the three-figure mark. However, ace spinner Ravindra Jadeja eventually trapped him.
Fourth Test fifty for Shanto
Shanto ended up scoring 82 off 127 balls in the final innings, having smoked eight fours and three sixes. As per ESPNcricinfo, Shanto has raced to 1,641 Test runs at 29.30 (100s: 5, 50s: 4). 358 of his runs have come as a captain at 27.53 (50: 1, 100: 1). Against India, he has raced to 198 runs at 33 (50s: 2).
How did the game pan out?
India scored 376 in their 1st innings, riding on a century from Ravichandran Ashwin and a score of 86 from Jadeja. In response, Jasprit Bumrah's four-fer saw Bangladesh fold for 149. India declared their second innings at 287/4 thanks to centurions Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant. Chasing a mammoth 515, Bangladesh fought well but eventually fell way short of the target.
