Bangladesh Test Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto Resigns After Sri Lanka Defeat

Najmul Hossain Shanto has resigned from his position as the Bangladesh Test captain. The announcement follows Bangladesh's innings defeat to Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was recently stripped off ODI captaincy © AFP

Addressing the media after the match, Najmul stated: "I am stepping down from the Bangladesh Test captaincy. I don't want to continue as captain in this format... this is not a personal matter. It is entirely for the betterment of the team, and I believe this will help the team."

Najmul further explained his decision, suggesting that having separate captains for all three formats of the game might not be ideal for Bangladesh. He also stepped down as T20I captain recently. The ODI captaincy was recently handed to Mehidy Hasan.

"Over the last few years, I have had the opportunity to be in this dressing room, and I don't feel it is logical to have three captains for three formats... In my view, having three captains will be difficult for the team. So, for the betterment of the team, I am stepping down," he said.

He clarified that his decision was not influenced by the ODI captaincy change. "I just hope people don't see this as a personal issue or think I did this because I felt bad about the ODI captaincy snub... this is for the betterment of the team. There is nothing personal here."

Najmul also mentioned that he had communicated his intentions to the cricket operations department prior to the announcement.