Following a harrowing series defeat in their first bilateral contest of the new World Test Championship cycle in Sri Lanka by an innings 78 runs in Colombo, Bangladesh Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said that he is stepping down from the role on Saturday.
“I don’t want to continue [as captain] in the Test format anymore,” Shanto announced in the post-match press conference, adding that it wasn’t an emotional reaction to the series defeat.
The southpaw had starred in the rain-affected first Test in Galle when he struck twin centuries in the Test to become only the fourth Bangladesh captain the feat in a match and joined a handful of Asian batters to record the feat twice in Tests. Aggregating a total of 300 runs in two Tests, Shanto emerged as Bangladesh’s leading run-getter in the series.
Batting first in the second match, Bangladesh posted 247 before Sri Lanka replied with a massive 458 on the back of opener Pathum Nissanka’s 158. Sri Lanka then bundled out Bangladesh for 133 on the fourth morning on the back of left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya’s five-wicket haul.
“This is not personal. I have taken the decision for the betterment of the team,” Shanto said. “I think this will help the team. I have been a part of the dressing room for the past few teams. I think three captains [for the three international formats] is not sensible. I don’t know what the board will feel about this, and I will support their decision. But this is my personal decision. I think three separate captains will be difficult for the team to deal with,” Shanto said after he was replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the ODI skipper earlier in June.
“I would want that no one feels this decision is emotional, or that I am disappointed by something. I want to make this clear. This is for the betterment of the team,” Shanto added.
From November 2023, Shanto captained Bangladesh in 14 Tests, during which they won four, including two significant victories in Pakistan in August 2024. Despite nine losses and a single draw (against Sri Lanka), Shanto’s individual batting form saw a marked improvement. As captain, he averaged 36.24, a notable increase from his non-captaincy average of 29.83. His contribution was particularly evident in the four wins, where he averaged 37.16
