Shantio to captain Bangladesh Test after Sri Lanka series

Bangladesh cricket team may be heading into a turbulent future, with Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto likely to step down after the series against Sri Lanka. The batter was made the captain for the red-ball format for a period of one year. Shanto, who was the T20I and ODI captain in the past, is seemingly not happy with things around him and is hence planning to give up Test captaincy.

Shanto to resign as Bangladesh captain?

As per Cricbuzz, Shanto has already sent a letter to the Bangladesh Cricket Board, informing them of his desire to step down as Test captain. The report states that he is expected to make the official announcement after the 2nd SL vs BAN Test in Colombo. A source close to Shanto told the publication that the batter was very adamant on stepping down as skipper, given what had happened in the recent past.

“I think he will not continue as Test captain after the Test series against Sri Lanka,” said the source.

Shanto was replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the ODI captain in a shocking move earlier in June. Despite the batter informing the board that he intends to stay as the skipper for ODIs and Tests, he was shunted out. Further, reports claim that Shanto was expecting to lead the side in the three-match series against Sri Lanka and was about to sit down with head coach Phil Simmons to discuss strategy when he was informed of the BCB’s decision to replace him.

“Coming to Shanto’s point, his captaincy was not taken away, rather the decision was taken with everyone’s consent in the board. We decided to have a new and different plan. As we are currently playing lots of matches of all formats, we wanted to go with three different captains,” BCB president Aminul Islam had said earlier.