Shanto: Not batting well in first innings 'major reason we lost'

Bangladesh's inability to bring their Galle confidence to Colombo cost them the Test series, according to outgoing captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. He said that the 1-0 loss was set in motion when the top order failed to cash in on their decision to bat first.

Shanto believed that batting first would give his team the best use of the SSC pitch. Instead, Bangladesh were bowled out for 247, before Sri Lanka piled on the pressure by scoring 458. The visitors then folded for 133 on the fourth morning, with only one batter crossing 25.

"It was very disappointing [the way we played in Colombo], especially after the outstanding way we played in Galle," Shanto said on Saturday. "We didn't perform well in this Test as a team. We didn't bat well in the first innings. It is a major reason we lost the Test. We were confident coming into the Colombo Test. We faced new conditions. Our first innings batting wasn't up to the mark. Our first four batters got out in the 30s or 40s. It becomes difficult for the new batter to play a long innings. We need to improve in that area.

"We didn't take a wrong decision at the toss. We batted poorly in the first innings. If you look at the conditions today, the ball is spinning more. The wicket was little bit slower in the first innings, but four or five batters couldn't make a big score after getting good starts. We made 247, but if they scored big, then we would have made 400-450. It would have been a different game."

This was in stark contrast to Galle, where Bangladesh had scored 495 batting first. Sri Lanka replied with 485, but Shanto struck his second century in the match to put Bangladesh in another commanding position. Sri Lanka, set 296 to win, lost four wickets in the fourth innings before the game was drawn, leaving Bangladesh as the more confident of the two teams coming into Colombo.

Shanto said that Bangladesh's bowling was also not up to the mark at SSC, especially with the new ball. It allowed Sri Lanka to get away to a good start, and although Bangladesh fought back to take eight wickets on the third day, the hosts had already piled up a 400-plus total.

"We didn't start well with the ball. We gave away runs at almost five runs an over. It made life hard for the rest of the bowlers as the batters had the momentum. They batted freely. We took eight wickets in a short time yesterday so if we had done it from the start, Sri Lanka wouldn't have batted for such a long time," he said.

Shanto said that Nayeem Hasan was one of the positives from the Test series, particularly because he has been getting such few opportunities since his 2018 debut.

"I think we can take Nayeem's bowling as a positive from this Test series. I think he got the opportunity to play seven Tests in the last seven years. To come in and perform like this isn't easy - especially coming back strongly after not starting well in this Test. Taijul [Islam] bhai -- we know how important he is for the team, bowling 40-45 overs in a row in the same area, it's a very difficult job. Mushfiq bhai played a long innings after a long time, which was good to see.''

Shanto also defended the selection of Anamul Haque, who scored just 23 runs in the two Tests. Anamul looked out of place against fast bowling, although Shanto said that they had very few options after the previous set of openers Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan couldn't quite cement their top-order places over the last 12 months.

"Bijoy bhai has 9,000 runs in first-class cricket," Shanto said. "He has 24 centuries and 49 fifties. Why won't we take an experienced player? Our openers have been struggling for the last 12 months. They didn't contribute regularly. We wanted an experienced player who made a lot of runs. It is unfortunate that he couldn't contribute for the team. I believe that he can do better in future opportunities. We can't blame him alone. We didn't do well as a team."