(ESPNCRICINFO) – Najmul Hossain Shanto showed admirable form, intent and body language during his 146 against Afghanistan in the Dhaka Test.
In the oppressive heat, he notched up his first Test century in almost two years, and his first at home. It comes at a time when Shanto has finally started to score regularly for Bangladesh after spending five years promising plenty but delivering little. He struck 23 fours and two sixes during his 175-ball stay, scoring his runs at a strike rate of 83.42, the second highest for a Bangladesh batter who has made a 140-plus score.

But eight months ago, Shanto’s international career had come to almost a standstill when he was averaging 26.08 in Tests, 14.53 in ODIs and 18.54 in T20Is. Then he turned the corner with the T20 World Cup in Australia, where he was Bangladesh’s top scorer with 180 runs at an average of 36.00 and a strike rate of 114.64.
Riding on that confidence, earlier this year, he became the first Bangladeshi to cross 500 runs in a BPL season. He scored four fifties and had an overall strike rate of 116.74.
The major turning point, though, was the three successive match-winning knocks against England during the following home T20I series that Bangladesh won 3-0. Last month, he smashed 117 off just 93 balls for his maiden ODI century as Bangladesh chased down 320 against Ireland.

During the time when he wasn’t scoring consistently, Shanto said, he practised and behaved in the same way. There were periods of disappointment when things were being said about him, but all he could do was wait for his fortunes to turn.
“I always believed that I would score runs,” Shanto said after the first day’s play against Afghanistan. “I went to the middle to score runs. I always believed in my training pattern and how much hard work I was doing. [I wanted to find out] what else I needed to do. I had belief in my preparation too. I believed I was progressing in the right way. But I wasn’t getting results despite putting in the effort in training.

“It feels bad when you are not scoring runs but it is true that I didn’t think much about the outcome or whatever was being said about me. I was focusing on my limitations. Now I am getting the outcome, so I am trying to hold on to the consistency as much as possible. “It is special to get a Test century at home. I was concentrating well throughout the innings. I didn’t think differently towards the end. I could have scored more; I will try to make it bigger next time.”
In Dhaka, Shanto attacked the Afghanistan bowlers in various ways, from meeting the ball early to rocking back whenever they went too short. He raced away to 64 off 76 balls, with 11 fours, in the first session. There was the odd good spell he had to see off, but the combination of the opposition’s lack of experience, heat and his own form meant he could score freely. He was also fed a string of leg-stump half-volleys and full-tosses and drove them gleefully.