From being brutally trolled on social media at the beginning of his career to becoming the mainstay of Bangladesh's batting line-up in recent years, Najmul Hossain Shanto has come a long way as a cricketer. The 25-year-old, who is set to play his maiden ODI World Cup, will definitely play a crucial role for the Tigers in the mega event in India. The in-form batter opened up about his game, and expectations from the showpiece event along with a few other topics during an exclusive interview with The Daily Star's Mazhar Uddin. The excerpts of the interview are given below: 

The Daily Star (DS): This will be your maiden ODI World Cup. What are your expectations from this event? 

Najmul Hossain Shanto (NHS): To be honest, I don't want to keep any expectations since what is more important for us is how well we can do as a team. If I talk about expectations, my aim will be to perform for my team in every match. However, I am not thinking about the outcome. I will try to do my best in every situation and play according to the demands of my team. 

DS: What is your favourite Bangladesh World Cup memory? 

NHS: The first thing that comes to my mind is the 2015 World Cup game against England. I think it was a memorable tournament for us as we qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time. I was playing for the Under-15 side back then and I can remember the cheer from all of us when Rubel [Hossain] bhai bowled Stuart Broad [James Anderson] to win the game. I must also mention Shakib [Al Hasan] bhai's performance in the 2019 World Cup where he was terrific throughout the tournament.  

DS: Now you seem to enjoy your time in the middle even in tough situations. What sort of change in mindset did you have? 

NHS: At one point I think the expectations piled up on me and I was unable to enjoy the game which is the reason it hampered my performance. What I do now is, whether I score runs or not, whether my team is in a good or bad position, I try to enjoy the game.

DS: As you bat at a crucial position and the team also relies heavily on you, how do you see your role as a batter? 

NHS: I don't see myself differently or think of any extra responsibilities. Whenever I go to bat, I think of giving my best for the team according to the demands of the situation. Obviously, my position is very important and yes, we haven't had consistency at the top order recently and maybe we didn't do well in the last four or five games. But I think if we don't overthink this aspect and if we can bat according to our plan, we can do better. What I do is try to focus on my strengths and do what is within my capacity, refraining from doing anything extraordinary.  

DS: Any specific bowler in world cricket you think can pose threat to the batters? 

NHS: To be honest, I don't think of any individual bowler. I try to focus on the ball and not on who's bowling. Obviously, there are some great bowlers in world cricket who make life difficult for the batters such as Mitchell Starc, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Trent Boult and a few others who can be devastating on their given day.   

DS: As a team, what are the expectations from the upcoming World Cup? 

NHS: We can expect a lot of things and as a team, our expectation is very high. But rather revealing our expectations the important thing for us will be to focus on how good we can play match by match. I can say we will try to achieve what Bangladesh have never achieved in the World Cup, and the type of team we are, we will play to become champions. But it's also important we don't think too far. The team we have and if we remain fit, I hope it's possible for us to get a very good result. The other thing is that we will have the same expectations and goals throughout the tournament. The sentiment of the general people or the media is that we become a very bad team when we lose a game and drastically become a great team when we win a game. But as players, we do not think that way. We go to the ground to win every game.

DS: What is your favourite Bangladesh World Cup memory? 

NHS: The first thing that comes to my mind is the 2015 World Cup game against England. I think it was a memorable tournament for us as we qualifed for the quarterfinals for the first time. I was playing for the Under-15 side back then and I can remember the cheer from all of us when Rubel [Hossain] bhai bowled Stuart Broad [James Anderson] to win the game. I must also mention Shakib [Al Hasan] bhai's performance in the 2019 World Cup where he was terrific throughout the tournament.  

DS: Any specific bowler in world cricket you think can pose threat to the batters? 

NHS: To be honest, I don't think of any individual bowler. I try to focus on the ball and not on who's bowling. Obviously, there are some great bowlers in world cricket who make life difficult for the batters such as Mitchell Starc, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Trent Boult and a few others who can be devastating on their given day.   

DS: You performed consistently in all formats recently. Having gone through a lot of ups and downs at the start of your career, what are the things that played a role in your transformation?   

NHS: Obviously, I did not have a smooth start to my international career. Everyone expected a lot from me. But to be honest, I haven't made huge changes as I tried to work on my mistakes and analysed my shortcomings in the nets, and worked specifically on those. I think it is because of those specific works that I am getting the results now. But I must say that I went through an important phase of my career when I changed my training pattern along with my mindset.