The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has confirmed that Najmul Shanto has decided to step down as the Bangladesh T20I captain.
It is reported that Najmul is not interested in captaincy after the conclusion of the home series against South Africa.
Initially, he decided to step down from T20I captaincy after the end of the T20 World Cup 2024 but later changed his mind and wanted to quit the captaincy from all three formats.
His decision was reverted after BCB president Faruque Ahmed got involved in the matter and the southpaw was named captain for the three match-ODIs against Afghanistan.
“Shanto finally told us that he won’t lead in the T20Is and we accepted it but as we don’t have T20Is at the moment, we have time in hand and so we are not picking a new captain,” said a BCB official.
“If there is no injury issue Najmul will remain the captain in Test and ODIs and we have discussed it,” he said.
Meanwhile Litton Das is the front-runner to replace Shanto as Bangladesh’s captain in the shortest format of the sport. He recently led 3-0 series whitewash over West Indies.
Shanto has a decent record as captain of Bangladesh in the T20I format. The southpaw led Bangladesh in 24 T20I with 10 victories with win percentage of 41.66% and a loss percentage of 54.16%.
Shanto is most likely to captain Bangladesh during their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. Bangladesh have been placed in Group A alongside India, defending Champions Trophy winners Pakistan and New Zealand.
