The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced Najmul Hossain Shanto as the new Bangladesh skipper. The left-handed batter led the team during the ODI World Cup 2023 after Shakib was ruled out of the tournament and will take over as their all-format skipper for the next year.
BCB President Nazmul Hassan announced the change, which hasn’t come as a shock, with Shakib Al Hasan expressing his desire to leave the Test and ODI formats and Tamim Iqbal’s return to international cricket still uncertain.
The board had considered Shakib as their ODI skipper but with the condition of his eye and him getting ruled out of the upcoming series against Sri Lanka, they decided to give Shanto the nod. One has to consider that his becoming a politician also played a part in his not getting the preference.
Shakib had announced that he’ll leave the ODI captaincy after the ODI World Cup in India and hasn’t been too keen to play Test cricket. However, he had shown interest in leading Bangladesh at the T20 World Cup 2024. But, despite his desire, the BCB has decided to go with Najmul Hossain Shanto.