Captain Shanto goes for bizarre review after ball hits middle of Mendis’ bat 

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto's bizarre review on Day 1 of the second Test against Sri Lanka has left everyone baffled.  

In the 44th over of the day, Sri Lanka batter Kusal Mendis, batting on 29, rushed down the wicket to play dead bat at a good length delivery bowled by Taijul Islam.

Following the successful defence, an appeal was made by Shanto from first slip. The Tigers skipper had thought that the ball hit Mendis's pad first and asked Taijul whether that was the case. But Taijul failed to give an affirmation and wicket-keeper Liton Das too couldn't ascertain Shanto. The stump mic, however, picked up Shanto saying confidently that it was a case of the ball brushing the pad first before thumping onto the bat. 

Shanto decided to challenge umpire Rod Tucker's decision of not out with a review but was left disappointed when replays showed that the ball clearly hit the middle of Mendis's bat. Third umpire Chris Gaffney did not even need to go for an Ultraedge check as the ball was so far away from the front pad.

The Lankans were 155 for the loss of one at that stage after which Mendis went on to score 93 while building a 114-run stand with Dimuth Karunaratne, who eventually scored 86. 

Bangladesh have always struggled with determining which decisions to challenge when it comes to using the DRS system. With only three reviews allowed per inning for each side, the Tigers are yet to wrap their heads around the DRS. Previous captains have also struggled with using reviews and there have been several such baffling challenges in the recent past.

"We are not really good with reviews. That's very clear. So far, we have been awful. We have to develop a much better method. That's completely under captain and wicketkeeper. Maybe the point fielder. The one we are using isn't working. I think we are probably emotions rather than fact at the moment. It was straight off the middle of the bat, so it is not a great review. I also don't want people to be afraid to take reviews. We just have to find a better method," Bangladesh bowling coach Andre Adams said after the day's play in his take of the bizarre review.