Shanto: Bangladesh beat themselves more than West Indies did

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto believes his side lost the Mirpur Test more through its failures than West Indies’ strengths, blaming poor batting and wayward spin.

West Indies chased 170 with 8 wickets to spare after Bangladesh’s 53-6 collapse on the third day on Saturday.

Nayeem Hasan’s half-century revived hopes on the fourth, but the visitors won.

“We believed 170 was defendable on this pitch. But unfortunately, that did not happen this time. We have to give them some credit, but we could have bowled better,” Shanto said.

The spinners bowled 28.1 overs without a wicket, conceding more than 4 runs an over. Shanto said they had failed to find the right length.

“Had we taken seven or eight wickets, we might have felt our total was too low. But our bowling was inconsistent,” he said.

Bangladesh took a 27-run first-innings lead, but Shanto said they squandered a chance to build an advantage, slipping from 213-3 to 272 all out.

“We fell behind in the first innings. If we had added more runs, the match could have been different,” he said.

Jomel Warrican took 9 wickets, but Shanto felt Bangladesh’s batting had made his task easier.

“I am not disrespecting him, but we batted worse than he bowled. We could have played him better,” he said.

Shanto admitted he should have taken responsibility as a senior batter. He backed Taijul Islam, saying the spinner was not at his best but deserved time to recover and would bounce back in the next Test.