Shadman finds reward in patient preparation

Shadman Islam has reason to feel relieved, even if not 'satisfied'.

The left-handed opener ended a 17-innings wait for a century, converting his overnight score of 99 not out into three figures against West Indies on Thursday (October 29).

Although his stay ended soon after, at 105, the innings should help address questions over his conversion rate. Shadman had produced a determined effort on the opening day, showing considerable concentration on an occasionally tricky surface, where some deliveries rose sharply from a length or kept low, while movement and spin also posed challenges.

Rather than allowing the conditions to dictate terms, Shadman remained patient and built his innings through sustained application. It was a reward for the kind of hard work that often goes unnoticed away from the middle.

Earlier this month, on a hot and humid day, Shadman was at the BCB Academy, working on his batting. Such individual training sessions are a regular part of his routine, particularly given his role as a Test specialist. His approach at these sessions is fairly straightforward: bat until he is satisfied with his work.

"I usually practice bowler-wise, thinking what kinds of bowlers I have to face during a Test match," Shadman told Cricbuzz after a recent session. I bat until I feel satisfied with my batting for the day, then I think, 'Okay, that's enough.' For the rest of my extra time, I do drills or side-arm practice when I feel my batting is good for the day," he said.

"And sometimes, maybe my batting isn't that good or I'm not able to do it as I wish, then I don't push it too much. I go into drills or play side-arm during that time. This is how I prepare," he said.

Shadman also explained how he responds when a session does not go as planned. Rather than persist without a clear purpose, he takes a short break to assess what is going wrong before returning to his work. "When I don't feel it's going my way I take a short break and I think a bit (regarding my mistakes) and afterwards maybe I play some throwdowns for a while and then when I need to face bowlers again I face the ball.

"I always try to feel like I'm in a match during practice, so that as soon as I go in, I can bat in good shape from the start, or bat with control for as long as I bat,"

Shadman has also grown increasingly proficient with the sweep, a shot he used well in his innings against West Indies. "On our Bangladeshi wickets after two or three days the ball naturally turns a bit. So, according to that, the sweep shot increases the scoring option and that's why I practice the sweep shot," he said.

Coming into the West Indies Test, Shadman had gone 17 innings without a century. During that period, he had registered four fifties without converting any of them into three figures, bringing his conversion rate under scrutiny.

Yet his overall run-scoring record over the past three years suggests that the issue has been one of conversion rather than a lack of contributions. Shadman has scored 1,115 runs in that period, making him the seventh-highest run-scorer among Test openers. Yashasvi Jaiswal leads the list with 2,346 runs, including six centuries and 12 fifties.

Ben Duckett has a conversion rate of 38.5 per cent, meaning he scores a century in roughly one of every three innings in which he passes fifty. Tom Latham's conversion rate stands at 50 per cent, with a century coming in every other innings in which he reaches a fifty. Shadman's corresponding figure is 20 per cent, with two centuries and eight fifties over the same period.

Speaking to reporters after the second day's play, Shadman acknowledged that he was aware of the discussion surrounding his conversion rate but said he was not allowing it to distract him. "I know criticism will come in life," Shadman told reporters in Mirpur after his century.

"So I rarely think about it. My job is to play, practice and work hard. I always try to stay in this process with it. Yes, of course (I know there are talks regarding my conversion rate) and I was always thinking why I was getting out in so many places. So, in the last few days, I have been working a lot on it. I thought it could be a fitness issue, so I am working well on fitness.

West Indies have proved a particularly favourable opponent for Shadman. He averages 70.2 against them, significantly higher than his career average of 29.98, making the series an opportunity to build on a strong record against the visitors. Even so, the century itself offered little reason for complacency. Shadman felt he had missed an opportunity to contribute a much bigger score. Bangladesh collapsed on the second morning post Shadman's dismissal, losing their last five wickets for 19 runs to be bowled out for 272. He acknowledged the difference he could have made to Bangladesh's eventual total by turning his innings into a bigger hundred.

"Yes, we should definitely do better here, because if the top order had scored a little more, say 150 or 170, 200, then maybe the team's runs would have gone up to 450, 500," said Shadman. "It's a mistake and we will try, InshaAllah, to make it as big as possible when we face such situations next time," he said.

For Bangladesh, the hope will be that Shadman can build on this innings. His preparation is largely conducted away from the spotlight, through a routine built around repetition, assessment and adjustments to different conditions. The next step is to ensure that the work translates not just into starts and centuries, but into the substantial scores that can strengthen Bangladesh's position in a Test.