Najmul Hossain Shanto has stepped aside as Bangladesh’s Test captain only 18 months into the job, doing so minutes after the innings-and-78-run loss in Colombo that handed Sri Lanka a 1-0 series win.
“I don’t want to continue [as captain] in the Test format anymore,” he told the post-match press conference, the decision delivered with little theatre and no bargaining. Shanto insisted the call had been in his mind for a while. “This is not personal. I have taken the decision for the betterment of the team,” he explained. “I think this will help the team… 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.”
The 26-year-old said he had alerted the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s cricket-operations team “some days back”, well before the final day’s collapse. Last month he was removed as one-day captain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz taking over that role. Twenty20 leadership remains with Shakib Al Hasan, leaving the BCB to decide whether to revert to the all-rounder in Tests or identify a fresh option.
A record of four wins and nine defeats in 14 Tests does not flatter Shanto, yet the numbers with the bat hardly accuse him of being burdened by the armband. He averaged 36.24 while leading, compared with 29.83 as a regular member of the top order. Two of his four hundreds came in the drawn first Test at Galle last week, evidence that personal form was not the issue.
“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,” he added, keen to shut down suggestions of a rift.
The wider question is whether Bangladesh gain stability from a streamlined leadership model or edge closer to musical chairs. Former selector Habibul Bashar, speaking on local television, called the resignation “a brave but risky move”, arguing that continuity, not change, is what a developing Test side usually needs. However, he conceded that three separate skippers can “lead to mixed messages in the dressing-room”.
Shanto’s tenure will be remembered for back-to-back wins in Pakistan last August, Bangladesh’s first away series success in three years, as well as the recent hundreds in Galle. The end, though, was stark: bowled out twice in uneven batting conditions at the SSC and outplayed by a Sri Lankan attack showing greater bite.
The BCB is expected to confirm an interim captain before September’s home series against West Indies. Whether Shanto slots in purely as a senior batter or is given a break remains to be seen, but the left-hander has at least removed one debate from the boardroom table.
