Shanto Hopes Bangladesh Can Repeat Historic Test Wins in South Africa After Darwin Triumph

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto believes his team's historic Test victory over Australia in Darwin has shown the progress Bangladesh cricket has made, while the heavy defeat in Mackay has provided valuable lessons ahead of their upcoming tour of South Africa.

Australia bounced back strongly in the second Test, defeating Bangladesh by an innings and 51 runs after suffering a nine-wicket defeat in the series opener in Darwin. Despite the setback, Shanto said Bangladesh could take pride in securing a landmark victory against Australia on their home soil.

"I don't think anyone will forget what we have done in Darwin, but it is also true that we didn't play good cricket in this Test," Shanto said. "We won a good Test match in Darwin. It is a win to be proud of. We now have two wins of such magnitude. We have defeated New Zealand and Australia in their conditions."

Bangladesh's victory in Darwin came less than five years after their memorable eight-wicket win over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui in January 2022. Shanto believes those victories demonstrate that Bangladesh are capable of competing with established Test teams in their own conditions.

"I hope we do it in South Africa, which will only help our Test team," he said.

Bangladesh are scheduled to tour South Africa in November for a two-Test series, with matches set to be played in Johannesburg and Centurion. The team currently sits sixth in the ICC Test rankings and fourth in the World Test Championship standings.

Shanto admitted that Bangladesh may have carried some of the emotional momentum from their Darwin victory into the second Test. However, he insisted that the team had prepared well for the significantly different conditions in Mackay.

"Emotion is always there, but as professional players we need to be very clear about the Test match," he said. "I believe the players were quite happy with their preparation and mindset. We just didn't play at our best."

The Bangladesh captain acknowledged that his team struggled to adapt to the bounce and movement offered by the Mackay pitch. He also accepted responsibility for his own dismissal after getting set in the second innings.

"My dismissal, after getting set, isn't acceptable, to be very honest," Shanto said. "I should have hung around for longer."

Bangladesh's batting collapsed in both innings, with Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque and Shanto unable to reproduce the performances that helped the side in Darwin. Litton Das endured an especially difficult Test series, registering three ducks without scoring a run.

However, Shanto backed Litton to return to form and defended his value to the Test side.

"Litton has played some great knocks recently, so I am not really looking at these three zeroes," Shanto said. "I still feel his batting at No. 6 is effective for the team. We know his quality. I think he has huge impact in the Bangladesh Test team. I am hopeful that he will come back strongly in the next series."

The contrasting results in Darwin and Mackay highlighted Bangladesh's continuing challenge of maintaining consistency after major victories. The team also struggled to build on their historic win in Mount Maunganui in 2022, suffering an innings defeat against New Zealand in Christchurch.

Shanto, however, believes the experience gained from the Mackay defeat can help Bangladesh improve when they face similar conditions in the future.

"We have to realise that we haven't played in these conditions, against this type of bowling attack before," he said. "I think it's important how we can use this experience in the future."

With South Africa next on the Test schedule, Bangladesh will hope the lessons from Mackay can help them avoid another emotional and performance drop after a historic victory—and instead turn their recent overseas successes into a sign of sustained growth in Test cricket.