BCB appoints Najmul Hossain Shanto as Bangladesh Skipper for the third ODI match against New Zealand.
Najmul Hossain takes over captaincy for third ODI
Bangladesh is scheduled to play in the 3rd ODI match against New Zealand on Sher-e-Bangla. New Zealand leads the series 1-0. The first ODI match was canceled due to rain and the second match ended with the victory of New Zealand. Bangladesh had recently completed its Asia Cup Campaign where they were knocked out of the Asia Cup tournament despite their win against India with six runs in the Super Fours stage.
On this occasion, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain said that he is aiming to follow Shakib Al Hasan’s leadership quality for the third ODI match. Litton Kumar Das, who led the team for the other two matches, handed over the captaincy to Najmul to work on his batting. Najmul looks excited to take up the challenge despite the fact that the hosts could lose the series against New Zealand after 10 years.
“It is not a challenge but a matter to enjoy,” he said on the responsibility. “I am really feeling good for the opportunity and now the way our team is at the moment with the World Cup ahead. To be honest, if we can end the game on a good note our team will be in good shape and if I can end the game on a good note it will be helpful for me as well,” Najmul told reporters ahead of the third ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Monday.
“We cannot think what happened in 2008 (their last ODI series loss to New Zealand at home) and it is important to end the game on a good note tomorrow. I think as a player this is a proud moment for me and for my family members. The board gave me this opportunity and I am very excited about it. Hopefully, I will enjoy it tomorrow,” he said.
“Shakib bhai has always been my favorite cricketer. As a captain, we have seen MS Dhoni and everyone likes him a lot. Personally, I like the way Shakib Bhai leads the team and handles the players. I had the opportunity to play with him in the BPL and learned a lot of things from him. The experience I have and what I have learned from my senior brothers I will try to use it.”
“In the future, if there is a possibility to lead the side I will surely give it a try and to be honest this is a dream for every cricketer to lead his country. It (leading the national team) came to me this time and if there is an opportunity in the future will try to fulfill the responsibility to the best of my ability,” he added.
“Winning any game is important and if we can win tomorrow there will be a good feeling around but if we lose I don’t think it will have a huge impact on us in the World Cup,” he said adding that he also feels that relatively low scoring wickets in SBNS can also be beneficial for them in the global event.
“I think we have been working on our preparation for a long time and as far as the wicket is concerned the wicket can be good or bad in the World Cup and we don’t know but we can assume the wicket will be good but we need to prepare for both kind of wickets and there are wickets in India where lots of runs are not scored. We will try to play the game as the wicket demands and if we can do that we can say we have prepared well.”
Bangladesh will be playing their warmup games against Sri Lanka on September 29 and England on October 2 at Barsapara Stadium.
