Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hopes that the latest setback of early exit from Champions Trophy will bring some ‘changes’ in the batting unit. The statement comes after Bangladesh lost their second match of the ICC tournament on Feb 24 and were knocked out of the race of semis. They lost to New Zealand on Monday and had lost to India in the opening match on Feb 20.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has said that the same group of players should be given more opportunities to be “responsible for the team’s performance” in future ICC tournaments. The comment comes after Bangladesh’s early exit from the Champions Trophy following which their senior players have come under fire.
Bangladesh Knocked Out Of Champions Trophy 2025
Bangladesh faced another elimination from an ICC event as New Zealand knocked them out of the Champions Trophy 2025 on Monday. The Kiwis registered a five-wicket win over Bangladesh and became the second team after India to qualify for the semifinal.
The Asian side encountered another dismal run in an ICC tournament and their poor batting was deemed to be the main reason behind their failure. They couldn’t get past the 250-run mark in the two matches they played and faced the consequences of an early exit from Champions Trophy 2025.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto pointed out the loopholes in their batting unit and insisted they have to make improvements in order to do well in future tournaments.
Najmul Hossain Shanto Rips His Bangladesh Teammates Apart After Champions Trophy 2025 Exit
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has slammed his team’s lack of accountability in their dismal run in the 2025 Champions Trophy. The subcontinent team has been eliminated from the semi-final race after losing both of their group-stage matches against India and New Zealand, marking yet another forgettable ICC campaign.
Bangladesh had their moments in both the aforementioned matches, but failed to capitalize. The team did not have the batting unit firing on all cylinders as Towhid Hridoy and Najmul Hossain Shanto had to carry the innings in the first and the second match, respectively. On both occasions, the target proved to be less as the opposition overcame the obstacles in the run-chase with their experience. Bangladesh had India reduced to 144-4 and New Zealand to 72-3 while defending the target, but failed to trouble the opposition further.
Fans and pundits have lambasted the lack of contribution by the senior players, citing it as a huge factor in the team’s misfortune. The likes of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have been largely absent in the proceedings for the side, who are already without Shakib Al Hasan.
Najmul Hossain Shanto called for a change in mindset after yet another poor campaign, when bigger things were expected from them considering the conditions.
“I have said it a lot of times in the past, but we [have] made the same mistakes over and over again. We have to focus on how we want to improve our batting. I hope after this tournament, we will make some changes as a batting unit, which will bring improvement in our batting,” Shanto said after the defeat to New Zealand (via ESPN Cricinfo).
“We have to be more responsible for the team when we go out to bat. We cannot keep chopping and changing [personnel]. We have to keep giving our existing resources more opportunities. I think we are taking it lightly. We have to be more responsible,” he added.
Bangladesh were reduced to 35-5 against India in Dubai, and collapsed from 97-2 to 118-5 against New Zealand in Rawalpindi. Both mishaps by the batting unit proved to be costly as the team could not set an imposing target.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto on Mushfiqur Rahim
Veteran wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim had a vital role to fulfill in the middle-order, taking his experience and ability to play spin into account. However, he did not have form under his belt coming into the tournament, and it reflected in his outings.
He had a poor Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) campaign, and recorded a duck against India in the opening game. The right-handed batter perished for just 2 runs in the contest against New Zealand, and was part of the ill-fated middle-overs collapse.
“I wasn’t worried about Mushfiq [Mushfiqur] bhai’s last five innings. His wicketkeeping was very important. We have seen his contribution to the team over the years. He didn’t score runs in the last two or three matches but I am sure he can come back in the next game,” Najmul said.
Bangladesh had to win their remaining two games, against New Zealand and Pakistan on Feb 27, to have a shot at making it to final four after losing against India. The Bangla Tigers, however, failed to do so and with their loss, hosts and defending champions Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament as well.
The match between Pakistan and Bangladesh on Feb 27 is nothing but a dead-rubber now. The India vs New Zealand match on March 2 in Dubai, meanwhile, will decided which team will finish on top of the Group A and face the second-placed team in Group B in the semi-final. Bangladesh have pride to play for when they take on Pakistan in their final group-stage match on Thursday, February 27, in Rawalpindi.