Najmul Hossain Shanto

For the Bangladesh Test and ODI cricketer, born in 1987, see Mohammad Nazmul Hossain. For the Dhaka Division and Sylhet Division cricketer, born in 1987, see Nazmul Hossain Milon.

Najmul Hossain Shanto (Bengali: নাজমুল হোসেন শান্ত; born 25 August 1998) is a Bangladeshi cricketer.^[2]

Najmul Hossain Shanto

Personal information
Full name	Najmul Hossain Shanto
Born	(1998-08-25) 25 August 1998 (age 24) Rajshahi, Bangladesh
Height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)^[1]
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Top-order batsman
International information
National side	Bangladesh (2017–present)
Test debut (cap 84)	20 January 2017 v New Zealand
Last Test	14 June 2023 v Afghanistan
ODI debut (cap 127)	20 September 2018 v Afghanistan
Last ODI	11 July 2023 v Afghanistan
T20I debut (cap 66)	18 September 2019 v Zimbabwe
Last T20I	16 July 2023 v Afghanistan
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2015	Kalabagan
2016–2017	Comilla Victorians
2017–2018	Rajshahi Division
2020-present	Abahani Limited
2023	Sylhet Strikers
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC Matches 23 27 25 66 Runs scored 1283 639 566 4,173 Batting average 29.83 24.57 26.95 38.63 100s/50s 4/3 1/3 0/3 10/20 Top score 163 117 71 253* Balls bowled 112 44 12 561 Wickets 0 1 0 6 Bowling average - 40.00 – 55.83 5 wickets in innings 0 – 0 0 10 wickets in match – – 0 0 Best bowling 0/0 1/10 – 2/44 Catches/stumpings 15/– 8/– 19/0 42/–
Source: ESPNcricinfo, 27 March 2023
Medal record Representing  Bangladesh Men's Cricket South Asian Games 2019 Kathmandu/Pokhara Team

He is the second Bangladeshi to score a century in domestic Twenty20s after Sabbir Rahman.

In December 2015, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[3] He was also selected for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and scored the most runs (180 runs in 5 matches) from Bangladesh cricket team.^[4]

Early and personal life

Shanto comes from Ranhat in Rajshahi, and began his cricket training at the Clemon Rajshahi Cricket Academy. The academy was almost 20 kilometers away from his home, so he would cycle and walk each day to get there.^[5]

He married Sabrin Sultana Ratna in 2020 during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

Domestic career

He made his Twenty20 (T20) debut on 8 November 2016 playing for Comilla Victorians in the 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier League.^[7]

In December 2017, he and Mizanur Rahman, batting for Rajshahi Division against Dhaka Metropolis in the 2017–18 National Cricket League, made the highest opening partnership in a domestic first-class match in Bangladesh, scoring 341 runs.^[8]

He was the leading run-scorer in the 2017–18 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, with 749 runs in 16 matches.^[9]

In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Khulna Titans team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League.^[10] In August 2019, he was one of 35 cricketers named in a training camp ahead of Bangladesh's 2019–20 season.^[11] In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Khulna Tigers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.^[12]

On 8 December 2020, in the 2020–21 Bangabandhu T20 Cup, Najmul scored a century for Minister Group Rajshahi against Fortune Barishal.^[13]

In November 2022, he was selected to play for Sylhet Strikers, following the players' draft for the 2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League. He was the highest run-scorer in that tournament, hitting 516 runs including four fifties.^[14] He also became the first Bangladeshi player to score more than 500 runs in a BPL season.^[15] He won the player of the tournament award for his performance.^[16]

International career

In November 2016, he was named in a 22-man preparatory squad to train in Australia, ahead of Bangladesh's tour to New Zealand.^[17] In January 2017 he was added to Bangladesh's Test squad ahead of the second Test against New Zealand.^[18] He made his Test debut in the second Test against New Zealand on 20 January 2017.^[19]

In August 2018, he was one of twelve debutants to be selected for a 31-man preliminary squad for Bangladesh ahead of the 2018 Asia Cup.^[20] He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Bangladesh against Afghanistan on 20 September 2018.^[21]

In December 2018, he was named in Bangladesh's team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.^[22] After being dropped from the team since 2018 Asia Cup, he was again recalled for the 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series.^[23] He made his T20I debut for Bangladesh, against Zimbabwe, on 18 September 2019.^[24]

In November 2019, he was named as the captain of Bangladesh's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh.^[25] Later the same month, he was named as the captain of Bangladesh's squad for the men's cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games.^[26] The Bangladesh team won the gold medal, after they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the final.^[27]

In April 2021, in the opening match of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, he scored his first century in Test cricket,^[28] with 163 runs in the first innings.^[29] In July 2021, Shanto scored his second Test hundred against Zimbabwe in Harare.^[30]

In September 2022, Shanto was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[31] On 30 October 2022, in the match against Zimbabwe, Shanto scored his maiden half-century in T20I cricket.^[32] His score of 71 runs off 55 balls helped Bangladesh to win the match by 3 runs.^[33] He was the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in that tournament hitting 180 runs,^[34] including another fifty against Pakistan.^[35]

In March 2023, he was named in Bangladesh's T20I and ODI squad for their series against England.^[36] On 1 March 2023, in the second ODI, he claimed his maiden half-century in ODI cricket.^[37] He continued his good form scoring 51 runs off just 30 balls in the first T20I,^[38] helping Bangladesh to win the match by 6 wickets and clinch their first T20I win against England.^[39]

In the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June 2023, Shanto became the second Bangladeshi to score two centuries in a Test, making 146 and 124.^[40]

References

1. Najmul Hossain Shanto’s profile on Sportskeeda
2. "Najmul Hossain Shanto". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
3. "Mehedi Hasan to lead Bangladesh at U19 WC". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
4. "Most Wickets | Men's T20 World Cup 2022". www.t20worldcup.com. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
5. "For Najmul Hossain Shanto, it's time to make the question marks go away". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
6. "বিয়ে করেছেন ক্রিকেটার নাজমুল হোসেন শান্ত". The Daily Star. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
7. "Bangladesh Premier League, 1st Match: Comilla Victorians v Chittagong Vikings at Dhaka, Nov 8, 2016". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
8. "Nazmul, Mizanur craft record stand". The Daily Star (Bangladesh). Retrieved 23 December 2017.
9. "Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, 2017/18: Most runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
10. "Full players list of the teams following Players Draft of BPL T20 2018-19". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
11. "Mohammad Naim, Yeasin Arafat, Saif Hassan - A look into Bangladesh's future". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
12. "BPL draft: Tamim Iqbal to team up with coach Mohammad Salahuddin for Dhaka". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
13. "Parvez Hossain Emon's 100, Rabbi's hat-trick, Tamim's fifty hand Barishal win". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
14. "Najmul Hossain Shanto and Tanvir Islam lead charts - BPL 2023". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
15. "Shanto, Hridoy, Mahmud headline ESPNcricinfo's BPL XI". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
16. "Shanto named BPL player of the tournament". The Business Standard. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
17. "Bangladesh include Mustafizur in preparatory squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
18. "Mushfiqur, Kayes and Mominul ruled out of crunch Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
19. "Bangladesh tour of New Zealand, 2nd Test: New Zealand v Bangladesh at Christchurch, Jan 20-24, 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
20. "Liton Das recalled as Bangladesh reveal preliminary squad for Asia Cup 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
21. "6th Match, Group B, Asia Cup at Abu Dhabi, Sep 20 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
22. "Media Release : ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2018: Bangladesh emerging squad announced". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
23. "Bangladesh include uncapped Mohammad Naim, Aminul Islam for next two T20Is". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
24. "4th Match (N), Bangladesh Twenty20 Tri-Series at Chattogram, Sep 18 2019". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
25. "Media Release : Bangladesh squad for Emerging Teams Asia Cup 2019 announced". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
26. "Media Release : Bangladesh U23 Squad for 13th South Asian Game Announced". Bangladesh Cricket Board. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
27. "South Asian Games: Bangladesh secure gold in men's cricket". BD News24. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
28. "Maiden century from Shanto gives Bangladesh strong start". BD News24. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
29. "Slow day in Pallekele ends with Bangladesh holding all the aces". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
30. "Bangladesh 7 wickets away from victory vs Zimbabwe after Najmul Hossain Shanto hits 109-ball hundred on Day 4". India Today. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
31. "Veteran star missing as Bangladesh name T20 World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
32. "Battling Zimbabwe fall short as Bangladesh win in chaotic final-over finish". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
33. "Under-fire Shanto and Mustafizur finally come good". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
34. "'শান্ত বাংলাদেশের সেরাদের একজন হবে'". RTV Online. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
35. "T20 World Cup: Despite Shanto's 50, Bangladesh post a below-par total vs Pakistan". United News of Bangladesh. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
36. "Opener makes a return after eight years as Bangladesh name T20I squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
37. Staff Correspondent. "Shanto reaches maiden ODI fifty, Bangladesh rebuilding after losing Mushfiq, Shakib". Prothomalo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
38. "Najmul Hossain Shanto's 27-ball fifty lights path for Bangladesh to down world champions". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
39. "Bangladesh beat England by six wickets in first T20 cricket international". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
40. "Shanto, Mominul centuries help set 662 target for Afghanistan". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 June 2023.

External links

• Najmul Hossain Shanto at ESPNcricinfo