Najmul Hossain Shanto named Bangladesh captain in all three formats

Bangladesh have announced talented batter Najmul Hossain Shanto as their full-time captain across all three formats of the game.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) arrived at this decision during a board meeting held at the BCB headquarters at the Shere Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Monday, February 12.

“We discussed at length about captaincy… The board has decided to appoint Nazmul Hossain Shanto as captain for all three formats for this year,” youth and sports minister and BCB president Najmul Hassan Papon was quoted as saying by The Daily Star.

Shanto led Bangladesh during the home series as well as the away series against New Zealand last year in the absence of regular captain Shakib Al Hasan. The 25-year-old has the experience of leading the Bangla Tigers in all three formats of international cricket. In 11 matches across the three formats, Bangladesh have won three and lost seven under Shanto’s captaincy, while one game ended in a no result.

Under Shanto’s leadership, Bangladesh won a T20I and an ODI on New Zealand soil for the first time in December 2023. His first challenge as a full-time skipper will be the multi-format series at home against Sri Lanka, starting next month. The two Asian sides will square off in three T20Is and as many ODIs before playing a couple of Tests.

Papon said that Shakib, who is now a member of the parliament, was still their ‘Number 1 choice for captaincy’. However, uncertainty regarding the talismanic all-rounder’s availability, owing to his eye problems, forced the board to make the change. For the unversed, Shakib mentioned before the 2023 ODI World Cup that he would leave captaincy in the 50-over format after the marquee event. Meanwhile, Shanto had expressed his interest in leading the national team in all three formats.

Former Bangladesh captain Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu named as chief selector

Bangladesh’s first captain, Gazi Ahsraf Hossain Lipu, has been appointed as the chief selector by the BCB. He replaces Minhajul Abedin Nannu, who had been a part of the selection panel since 2011 before being named as the chief selector in 2016.

Former players Hannan Sarker and Abdur Razzaq will fill the other two spots in the national selection panel. While the latter retained his spot from the previous panel, Sarker has come in for the outgoing Habibul Bashar.

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