How Najmul Hossain Shanto found the light at the end of the tunnel

Najmul Hossain Shanto is on the path Mominul Haque has been on for years. So it felt apt that he had Mominul at the other end when he brought up both his centuries in the one-off Dhaka Test against Afghanistan.

Shanto's international career is going through its first upturn after underachieving for five years. Mominul has already been on this ride: he started with two very good years before losing form for three years between 2015 to 2017. He returned in a big way in 2018, but then went quiet again. His unbeaten century against Afghanistan in this game ended a two-year dry spell of centuries.

Mominul, who is the only other Bangladeshi to hit two hundreds in a Test match, praised Shanto for the way he took toll of every bad ball bowled to him, while still maintaining his shape for long hours in Dhaka's searing heat.

"Shanto makes batting look very easy," Mominul said. "He can play all around the wicket. When you see him bat, you want to bat like him. I can't do that, the way I play. I like watching Shanto and Litton [Das] bat. Shanto doesn't let go of the bad ball. He makes sure he gets a boundary. Shanto played outstandingly in these conditions, particularly in this heat. I think it is a huge achievement."

In February 2020, the early stages of his captaincy, Mominul had handed over his No. 3 role to Shanto. Barring five innings, Shanto has kept hold of this crucial batting position for more than three years now. He struggled for a long time, but over the past eight months, there have been very clear signs of improvement.

"It is a terrible struggle," Mominul said of dealing with ups and downs in sport. "Only those who go through it know what it's like. When I went through such a phase, I felt that I was on my own. I was finished. The only option when you're in that state of mind is to stick to your process. Allah will give when He pleases. You cannot want it too much. It won't come even if you scratch and gnaw to come back to form."

Another who could relate to Shanto is Litton. Not too long ago, Litton was punished for his poor form by being dropped. It changed him significantly. Litton said that when he saw Shanto struggle for a long time, he spoke to the left-hander.

Litton said that becoming more organised in his training method has transformed Shanto's career. "I was in Shanto's place not too long ago. I have spoken a lot with him, though I don't know how much it helped. I believe he changed his practice method. I think he is a little more organised. When you play international cricket continuously, you start learning things. You can pick up your strength and weakness quickly. I think he found those properly, and worked hard on them.

"It is good to see that he is continuing his good form," Litton said. "There will be a bad time but he should keep following what has worked for him. I think he can keep going well."

Shanto's twin centuries against Afghanistan stood out for their fast pace and attractive shots. He liked meeting the ball early, especially when he chose to go leg side with his shots and wasn't afraid of coming down the track. This opened up new areas of scoring for him, particularly against spin, because they tried to shorten their length and he was ready for them.

Shanto profited heavily from drives through the covers and midwicket in both innings. There were hardly any boundaries through backward of square on the off side. He struck more boundaries through mid-off in the first innings, but only two in the second innings. Both centuries came during big second-wicket partnerships with one of the openers. He added 212 runs with Mahmudul Hasan Joy in the first innings. It provided foundation for Bangladesh to go big at a very good run-rate.

Shanto left strong suggestions that he was carrying his white-ball form and approach straight into this Test match. His best work over the last eight months have mostly been in limited-overs cricket. It started with the T20 World Cup where Shanto was the team's highest scorer, followed by runs against India, England and Ireland. With this good run, he has finally established himself in all three formats.

But it was a different world for Shanto between 2018 and 2022. He had become a symbol of disappointment. He was trolled on social media. Recently, he spoke about how he sometimes allowed outside noise to bother him. He played only 23% of Bangladesh's matches in the first five-and-a-half years since his debut. Coaches Steve Rhodes and Russell Domingo worked on him extensively, but Shanto only showed flashes of his potential in the middle.

Mominul said that Shanto worked hard on his shortcomings as a cricketer and showed persistence. "Shanto was patient. He stuck to his process. We all have different processes. Mushfiq bhai, Tamim bhai, Litton and I all have different processes.

"He improved where he needed to work," Mominul said. "I don't know his psychology, but he must have done something right. One becomes a big player when the performance is consistent. It has to go on. His focus should be on regular performance. He has to think about batting long, stick to his process and not think about anything else."

Shanto isn't the only one who has struggled to establish himself in the batting order. Bangladesh have tried several options in the top three in the last five years. Imrul Kayes, Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam and Saif Hassan are just some of the names that pop up when talking about Bangladesh's search for a reliable top-order player.

Whenever Tamim Iqbal has missed Tests in recent years, the selectors have tried new openers. Joy showed up and down form for the first eight months of his career before he got dropped for a year. Zakir Hasan has burst into the scene with a debut Test century against India, and now some runs against Afghanistan.

It is not yet certain if Bangladesh's strong performances against Ireland and Afghanistan will amount to a good start in the next World Test Championship cycle. But this team has found success in other formats by being true to their brand and by being patient with their players. It paid off with Tamim and Mushfiqur Rahim all through the 2010s. The 2020s might be Litton and Shanto's time.