Shocking! Najmul Hossain Shanto to quit captaincy after BAN vs SA Test series

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is likely to quit his role of captaincy after the ongoing Test series against South Africa. It is a big blow to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), who will now look to appoint a new captain for all three formats of the game.

Shanto was appointed Bangladesh's all-format captain by the BCB in February this year. The board had appointed him the captain for a period of one year. He was earlier expected to lead the team in the Champions Trophy 2025.

However, the top-order batter is not interested in taking up the captaincy anymore. He has already informed about his decision to the BCB and is awaiting the final approval of the board president Faruque Ahmed.

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Najmul Hossain Shanto to quit captaincy after Test series vs South Africa

A top BCB official informed about Najmul Hossain Shanto's decision to quit captaincy after the Test series against South Africa. According to the official, Shanto does not consider himself ready to lead the side yet.

"Yes, he informed us that he is not ready to lead the side after the South Africa series," a BCB official was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

It is also learned that a top BCB official is trying to convince the Shanto to reverse his decision but the left-handed batter is likely to go ahead with his decision to quit the captaincy from all the formats.

After Bangladesh's dismal performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 where they failed to go past the Super Eight stage, Shanto decided to give up the T20I captaincy. Later, he thought of giving up the captaincy for all the formats to concentrate on his own batting.

Najmul Hossain Shanto's recent form

Recently, Shanto's form with the bat hasn't been great. In the first Test against South Africa, he registered scores of 7 and 23 across both the innings. He scored 152 runs in two Tests against India at an average of 38.

In the Tests against Pakistan, Shanto scored 58 runs at an average of 19.33. Overall, the left-hander has struggled to score runs consistently across formats which is the main reason why he wants to give up captaincy.

Najmul Hossain Shanto's record as Bangladesh captain

Najmul Hossain Shanto does not have a great record as Bangladesh's captain. He led Bangladesh in 9 Tests, 9 ODIs, and 24 T20Is during this tenure. Under his captaincy, Bangladesh won three Tests, three ODIs, and 10 T20Is.

One of the biggest takeaways of his captaincy was Bangladesh's historic Test series win over Pakistan away from home. Bangladesh registered a thumping 2-0 series win over Pakistan for their maiden Test series win on Pakistani soil. However, the team has overall struggled in all the formats.

After Shanto gives up the captaincy, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is likely to take up the role for Tests and ODIs while emerging batter Towhid Hridoy can take up the captaincy for T20Is.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh is currently playing a two-match Test series against South Africa at home. South Africa won the first Test of the series by 7 wickets. The second Test will be played from October 29 at Chattogram.