Following a harrowing collection defeat of their first bilateral contest of the brand new World Check Championship cycle in Sri Lanka by an innings 78 runs in Colombo, Bangladesh Check captain Najmul Hossain Shanto mentioned that he’s stepping down from the function on Saturday.
“I don’t wish to proceed [as captain] within the Check format anymore,” Shanto introduced within the post-match press convention, including that it wasn’t an emotional response to the collection defeat.
The southpaw had starred within the rain-affected first Check in Galle when he struck twin centuries within the Check to develop into solely the fourth Bangladesh captain the feat in a match and joined a handful of Asian batters to file the feat twice in Checks. Aggregating a complete of 300 runs in two Checks, Shanto emerged as Bangladesh’s main run-getter within the collection.
Batting first within the second match, Bangladesh posted 247 earlier than Sri Lanka replied with an enormous 458 on the again of opener Pathum Nissanka’s 158. Sri Lanka then bundled out Bangladesh for 133 on the fourth morning on the again of left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya’s five-wicket haul.
“This isn’t private. I’ve taken the choice for the betterment of the group,” Shanto mentioned. “I feel this can assist the group. I’ve been part of the dressing room for the previous few groups. I feel three captains [for the three international formats] makes no sense. I don’t know what the board will really feel about this, and I’ll help their determination. However that is my private determination. I feel three separate captains shall be troublesome for the group to take care of,” Shanto mentioned after he was changed by Mehidy Hasan Miraz because the ODI skipper earlier in June.
“I’d need that nobody feels this determination is emotional, or that I’m disillusioned by one thing. I wish to make this clear. That is for the betterment of the group,” Shanto added.
From November 2023, Shanto captained Bangladesh in 14 Checks, throughout which they gained 4, together with two important victories in Pakistan in August 2024. Regardless of 9 losses and a single draw (in opposition to Sri Lanka), Shanto’s particular person batting kind noticed a marked enchancment. As captain, he averaged 36.24, a notable enhance from his non-captaincy common of 29.83. His contribution was significantly evident within the 4 wins, the place he averaged 37.16