Shanto has no answers to 'what happened, why it happened' in crushing defeat in 2nd Test

Bangladesh had a poor outing, especially with the bat and in fielding, throughout the Chattogram Test against Sri Lanka which eventually saw the hosts sufferring a crushing 192-run defeat. Bangladesh fielders missed a number of catches and batters failed to score big in both innings of the match.

Skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto was asked why the fielders missed sitters in the Test and why the batters failed while the opposition batters seemed to be in control. Shanto had no answers in the post-match press conference.

"Everyone takes their catches in practice. They work hard on their fielding. There's no answer to why we dropped the catches. We couldn't take the catches. Everyone was well prepared as a fielding unit," a dejected Shanto said.

The hosts were swept in the series after losing the first Test by 328 runs before losing the second Test 192 runs. In the four innings of the two Tests, they failed to get past the 200-run-mark thrice. Overall, they failed to take the score past 200 five times in a row until they were bowled out for 318 in the fourth innings of the final Test while chasing an improbable 511-run target.

"We didn't bat well throughout the series. There's no chance to show excuses. We can say lots of things but we didn't bat well as a team in the four innings," he added.
 
"(But) we aren't as poor a batting unit as we displayed in these two Tests. We are more capable. We have room for improvement both technically and mentally."

"We always struggle in our batting. But I can tell you that every batter is giving their 100 per cent. They want to contribute to the team. They practice hard. We didn't get the desired outcome in this game but I firmly believe that we will get the outcome. The way we are working hard, practicing and having desire to improve, I am sure we will see the outcome."

What was blamed for the batting debacle was Bangladesh's failure to adjust with the three formats of cricket simultaneously. They started the year with BPL T20 and then played a T20 and ODI series against Sri Lanka before playing Test cricket without any first class match in the bag.

Shanto however emphasised on adjusting with three formats at a time like the other teams in the world.
 
"The way modern cricket is running, those who play the three formats have to make that adjustment. Those who play fewer formats could take better preparations. We have to find a way to adjust to the three formats going forward, and prepare accordingly," Shanto remarked.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had recently increased the Test match fee to Tk 8 lakh from Tk 6 lakh. But still the Test match performance was below par and sometimes was the resemblance of Bangladesh's early 2000 Test struggle.
 
"I don't want to use the words "guilty conscience". After the team does badly, the players feel bad. They always want to improve. They communicate with each other. We don't think about Test match fees. We are looking for improvement even when we are doing well. Everyone feels bad when we lose, but we prepare very well. We practice very hard," Shanto said.