Asia Cup 2023: Bangladesh's Strongest XI

3. Najmul Hossain Shanto

Najmul Hossain Shanto could be seen supporting Litton and Naim in the top order. In the 2018 Asia Cup, Hossain broke into ODI cricket in the group match against Afghanistan. His maiden series didn’t go well as he could accumulate only 20 runs in three games he got from the team management.  

This year, the left-handed batter is in sensational form as he has scored 429 runs with a century and three fifties in 11 innings of 12 matches. In the three-match ODI series against England in March, Shanto notched up a couple of half-centuries and ended up as the second-highest run-getter for Bangladesh.

He scored 111 runs in three matches at a strike rate of 72.07. Playing the third game, his half-century helped his team hammer the visitors by 50 runs. In Bangladesh’s ODI series loss at the hands of Afghanistan in July 2023, Shanto failed to live upto the expectation but leaving his failure behind, he will look to be impressive in the 2023 Asia Cup.