Hathurusingha sees Shanto as a long-term leader

Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha heaped lavish praise on Najmul Hossain Shanto for his leadership skills following the conclusion of the white-ball tour of New Zealand today.

Bangladesh lost the last T20I by 17 runs (DLS method) in Mount Maunganui to share the three-match series 1-1, but they had already had their maiden win in this format against the Kiwis on New Zealand shores last week after having done the same thing in ODI cricket a week ago. And the Tigers achieved those feats without some of their senior players including regular captain Shakib Al Hasan, pacers Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain and all-rounder Mahmudullah.

Hathurusingha felt Shanto stepped up in Shakib's absence and motivated the team to do what the team failed to do previously.

"Before the series we spoke about what we had done before and we wanted to do better than that. So in that sense this is a very successful tour," Hathurusingha told reporters after the third match today.

"I thought the leadership of Shanto was outstanding. He was tactically spot-on and very clear with the messages to the players and what he expects from them," the Sri Lankan said. "The environment in the dressing room is much better as the communication is clear from Shanto."

With Shakib busy electioneering and still recovering from a finger injury he suffered during the ODI World Cup in October-November, Shanto had also led the Tigers to a first home Test win against New Zealand last month. Since Shakib is yet to decide whether he wants to continue as the captain of the three formats once he returns from injury, Hathurusingha feels Shanto has made his case reasonably well for the Bangladesh Cricket Board to decide.

"I think they (BCB) will strongly think about that (Shanto for long-term captaincy). Of course it's the board's decision but Shanto has shown enough evidence for them to take him seriously," the coach said.