Bangladesh national team captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said that it was sad to still talk about building a Test culture after so many years of getting the Test status but also hoped for entering into a new era when they would face Zimbabwe in the first of the two-match series starting at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium today.
The match is scheduled to begin at 10:00am and BTV will televise it live.
Bangladesh are set to return to Tests after a four-and-a-half-month gap, as they last played a Test series was against the West Indies in the Caribbean in November-December 2024.
With the head coach Phil Simmons extending his contract until 2027, there were questions regarding what the vision and culture would be going forward when Shanto was talking to the reporters ahead of the first Test.
鈥業t鈥檚 very important. It鈥檚 sad that after so many years of playing Test cricket, we still have to talk about the Test culture,鈥� said Shanto in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
鈥業f we start from last year, we have won four matches out of 12 in the Test Championship. And all four matches were against the big teams. So there have been discussions since then on how we can build the Test culture.
鈥楾he new coach has a plan on how he wants to take the team forward, and he has shared that with the players. Beside that, we, who were playing, had input from us. I hope we will do something new this year in the Tests,鈥� he added.
Shanto then further said that the new approach could be visible during the first Test.
鈥楢s a captain, I think that we need to play every match to win. We don鈥檛 have that intention to play selfish cricket. As I said, we would start something new, and that would start from tomorrow,鈥� he said.
The southpaw also reflected on the areas where the changes could be visible.
鈥榌First of all] the mentality. As I said, to try to win. We need to put enough runs on the board in order to get 20 wickets. We鈥檝e discussed these,鈥� said Shanto.
鈥楢lso, body language should be aggressive, whatever the situation might be. We鈥檝e got it against the West Indies. I hope the players will continue to do that,鈥� he added.
The Bangladesh captain also hoped that they would get the management beside them in this new era he hoped to begin.
鈥業 think our Test cricket has become stagnant for the last 20-22 years. So we need to change something. We are thinking about that. I hope this will work in our favour,鈥� said Shanto.
Shanto also didn鈥檛 hide the fact that everyone鈥攅specially the top-order batters鈥攊n the team needed to be more consistent to be able to get the desired results.
In the last 10 innings, only one partnership from the top order, ie, between the first and second wickets, reached 50 runs or more.
鈥極bviously everyone needs to be consistent,鈥� said Shanto.
鈥業f I鈥檓 talking about myself, in the last year, in many innings I got out after getting set, like scoring 30-40 runs. This is not acceptable in this format, because I was getting out after going through tough periods. I have worked on that. I will try more.
鈥極f course the top order isn鈥檛 performing. But they are trying. And I think with the resources we have got, we have to give them enough chances to be ready. As you said, we don鈥檛 face that challenge in domestic cricket. So if we give them opportunities in international cricket, they will start to perform,鈥� the captain added.