David Hemp on Najmul Shanto’s Captaincy and Batting

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp said that skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has been coping with the pressures of captaincy, but added that he doesn’t feel it is affecting his game.

Najmul scored just 32 runs at an average of eight against Sri Lanka in the two-match Test series at home earlier this year in March. He did not blaze with the bat in the tour of Pakistan either, having scored just 58 runs in three innings averaging 19.33.

Many in the cricketing circuit of the country feel that captaincy in all three formats is taking a toll on the left-handed batter, though Hemp begs to differ.

“The captaincy of any team, let alone an international team, is obviously difficult because you’re so much in demand. So it’s not just worrying about your own game. It’s also then conversations with teammates, being in meetings, having to do media work, conversations with the coaches and staff. So you’re getting pulled all over the place. So, that’s a huge challenge with captaincy, at any level, but especially international level. So, that’s something that he’s working and still getting used to,” Hemp told.

“I thought his approach in the last Test (against Pakistan) was excellent. Look, I don’t personally think so (captaincy affecting his game). He’s training well. He’s trying to improve his game,” he said.

“He is just one innings away. I think we saw glimpses of what he can do. It’s just now doing it over a longer period of time,” he said.

Hemp added that they were very happy with the performance of the batting unit during the tour of Pakistan, as their decision making was clear and consistent.

“We discussed that we felt we could have been better building on from the last series. So I guess from our point of view, it was important that we wanted it. As an example, we wanted the Pakistani seam Bowlers to come back to bowl spells – three spells, four spells, five spells. So we had that purpose around constructing our innings, being really diligent at the start of our individual innings so that we weren’t losing back-to-back wickets,” he said.

“The main key thing is it’s still about the scoring mentality. You still have to look to score. Individuals will be playing to their strengths, always looking to score, but should also understand the threats from the opposition bowlers. But then, more importantly, also understanding what your opportunities are to score off those bowlers. And that’s what we did really well throughout the series. Overall, I think across both Tests our decision making as a group was pretty consistent,” he said.

Hemp added that his charges need to leave behind the success of the 2-0 series win in Pakistan, and look forward to the Indian tour as they are well aware that it will be a challenging one.

“Firstly, India at home is a formidable team. This statistically everyone knows. So it goes without saying that they are a very strong side and coupled with that the fact they have some world-class players. So, you know, we’re under no false illusions that it’s going to be a challenge and we’re going to get tested.

“But what’s really important is to take the confidence and find the learnings from the Pakistan series into that series. Remember what we were thinking, what the mindset was and how we prepared, how we simply focused whether with bat or ball, just one ball at a time and identify what the team needs were at a particular moment. We know it will be difficult, but we’ve got to trust ourselves and believe that we can go there and certainly put India under pressure, both with bat and ball. And then see what sort of translates from that,” said Hemp.

I think, yes ( we need to follow the same batting approach we executed in the Pakistan Test series). You have to put runs on the board, and I think that you have to bat for a period of time. The key bit is assessing and identifying what the conditions are doing then adapting and adjusting to understand what the bowlers are doing at a particular moment. I go back to the Sri Lanka series, I think we just didn’t do that well enough, but what you saw in the Pakistan series is that we did that very, very well. You saw the difference in the obviously the output of runs and the time spent at the crease,” he said.

“So it’s still about you know, we want to score runs, we want individuals to demonstrate their skills and to show people how they can play. But you’ve got to understand well at times that you need to be smart based on what’s happening around you,” he said.

The batting coach added that they are not having any preconceived notions regarding the wickets that the hosts, India will prepare for them for the two-match Test series.

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