"We will worry about the result in the final session of the fifth day" - Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto ahead of 1st Test vs India 2024
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto called on his side to focus on their strengths instead of worrying about the opponent or the result ahead of the first of two Tests against India, starting in Chennai on September 19. Bangladesh have never beaten India in a Test match in 13 meetings, losing 11 with the other two ending in a draw.
However, the Bangla Tigers come into the India series full of confidence after their 2-0 dispatching of Pakistan in the Test series. Meanwhile, India have not lost a home Test series since their 1-2 defeat to England way back in 2012-13.
Speaking to reporters on the eve of the first Test, Najmul Hossain said as quoted by Cricbuzz:
"We will do what's needed to win a match. We will worry about the result in the final session of the fifth day. Before that, we will try to play according to our strengths. I think it's important to think about ourselves rather than thinking about opponents. What strengths we have. I believe we have the ability to play good cricket here. It's important how we can play good cricket for five days."
He added:
"Every international team aims to win every match. We have the same goal as well that we will play to win. We played very good cricket in Pakistan but now that is in the past. But as you mentioned, that gives us a lot of confidence. But we are here to play a new series and the dressing room believes that we can play very good cricket here. And we are not thinking about the outcome, we are just trying to follow our processes."
Bangladesh have won three of their six Tests under Najmul Hossain, with their lone series loss coming against Sri Lanka earlier this year.
Apart from the Pakistan series win, Bangladesh also had a 1-1 drawn series against New Zealand at home under Najmul Hossain last year.
"If we can do well in these series, I think every team will want to play more matches with us" - Najmul Hossain Shanto
Najmul Hossain believes doing well in series against top teams like India will help Bangladesh play more Tests against all sides in the future.
Despite playing the red-ball format since 2000-01, Bangladesh has rarely played even a three-match Test series with one or two-match affairs being the norm.
"If we can do well in these series, I think every team will want to play more matches with us. So this is a huge opportunity to see how good we can play here. I hope every team will be interested in playing with us after the way Bangladesh have been playing Test cricket," said Najmul Hossain.
Najmul also refused to expand too much on the Chennai wicket for the first Test but was happy with the balance of his side irrespective of the pitch conditions.
"Regarding the wicket, from what I've seen, it should be a good wicket. Don't want to talk much about pace or spin bowling. We will try to adapt to the wicket as quickly as possible tomorrow because I think we have a good balance of spin and pace. So there is nothing to worry much about," he added.
Bangladesh last played a Test series in India in 2019, with the hosts completing a 2-0 whitewash.