After a defeat against New Zealand in the Champions Trophy 2025 clash, Bangladesh captain Najmul Shanto has urged the side to improve in batting and Fielding departments.
Kiwis secured a comfortable five-wicket victory against Najmul Shanto’s side, which means Bangladesh are out of the ICC event. Bangladesh and Pakistan both suffered two defeats in their group-stage matches against India and New Zealand.
As a result, the former teams were knocked out of the Champions Trophy. Bangladesh batted first and scored 236 runs with sensible knocks from Najmul Shanto and Jaker Ali.
On the other hand, New Zealand easily completed the chase with five wickets left. Najmul Shanto was disappointed after another failure in the ICC campaign. He said that the team’s hitting and defences need a lot of work because they keep making the same mistakes.
“It’s very disappointing as a captain and I think if you look at our bowling unit last couple of years, we did a great job. We have some quality fast bowlers and spinners. We always wanted one wrist spinner and we have got that also.”
“As a batting group and fielding side, we need to improve a lot. I said many times we need to improve a lot as a batting unit.”
“But we did mistakes over and overs. So we have to really focus on how we improve our batting. I hope after this tournament, we will make some changes as a batting unit and think about in a different way. And we’ll try to improve our batting,” Najmul Shanto said.
Shanto has said out loud before the event that Bangladesh’s goal was to win the Champions Trophy. When asked if this comment put more stress on the team, the captain said it wasn’t likely to happen.
“Not at all. Every player in the squad had the same ambition. If we don’t dream big, how will we compete? We didn’t come here just to participate—we came to win. Yes, we didn’t get the results, but I still believe in dreaming big.”
“However, dreams alone won’t achieve anything; we need to put in the work to match our ambitions. This tournament didn’t go our way, but we have one more game left, and our focus is on that,” he added.
Ahead of the Pakistan clash, Najmul Shanto said, “We try to win the matches. We try to give hundred percent to win the matches. We try execute our plans. It’s another game and playing for the country is always pride for us.”
“I think the boys will do something special for the crowd and for us as well. So I hope we will have a good match,” he further said.
Shanto also appreciated the crowd support. “Very happy with the way they supported. I hope they will come again and support us,” he concluded.
Bangladesh and Pakistan will play their last group stage match of the Champions Trophy campaign on February 25 at Rawalpindi Stadium.
