Biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format, says skipper Shanto after victory over Australia

Darwin: Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has hailed his side's monumental nine-wicket victory over Australia in the Darwin Test as the country’s greatest achievement across any format, while stressing that the team must build on the historic triumph.

The Tigers claimed their first-ever Test victory on Australian soil on Sunday, comprehensively outplaying the world’s top-ranked Test nation.

"This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format," Najmul said. "Going forward we want to do something special in the future."

The victory comes as a dramatic turnaround for Bangladesh, who suffered an innings-and-85-run defeat against Zimbabwe shortly before being beaten by a Cricket Australia XI in a tour warm-up fixture. However, speaking after receiving a congratulatory video call from Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Najmul emphasized the importance of staying grounded ahead of the second Test in Mackay on August 22.

"We need to be consistent as a team," Najmul said. "Against Zimbabwe we didn't play well but the confidence still was there because we won against Pakistan in Bangladesh (in May). So that gives us confidence. Before we came here, we had the belief that we will play good cricket here."

Looking ahead to the series finale in North Queensland, the Bangladeshi captain warned that Australia would fight back strongly and insisted his squad must maintain their discipline.

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"As I said before this Test match, we wanted to play five days of good cricket, so nothing's changed," he said. "Going to the next Test match we need to follow the process, accept the challenge and enjoy those challenges. And they have a quality bowling attack, so we have to again play good cricket. As a bowling unit we have to be disciplined again. This match gives us confidence, but I'm not too much thinking about this one -- next match, we need to play again good cricket."

Najmul also reflected on the emotional impact the milestone victory will have on supporters back home in Bangladesh.

"In Bangladesh we all know the fans are really crazy about cricket," he said. "We've given something to them, at least some sort of happiness in their faces -- that's the beauty of this game. In our culture we're pretty emotional sometimes. Sometimes, when we lose, they cried, so I think this win, we give them the happiest moment." (AFP)