Najmul Hossain Shanto has stepped down as the captain of Bangladesh's T20I team but will most likely continue to lead in the ODI and the Test format. The southpaw had earlier expressed his desire to relinquish captaincy in all three formats but was reportedly talked out of it by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Faruque Ahmed.
As per a report by Cricbuzz, Shanto informed the BCB of his decision to quit the T20I captaincy and the board accepted it. Since Bangladesh are not slated to play a T20I anytime soon, the board has decided not to announce a captain at the moment.
"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," a BCB official closer to the development told Cricbuzz. "If there is no injury issue Najmul will remain the captain in Test and ODIs and we have discussed it".
Meanwhile, Litton Das is the front-runner to replace Shanto as Bangladesh's captain in the shortest format of the sport. The wicketkeeper-batter recently led Bangladesh to a 3-0 series whitewash over West Indies in West Indies as captain.
Shanto has a decent record as captain of Bangladesh in the T20I format. The southpaw led Bangladesh in 24 T20Is with 10 victories and 17 losses. He has a win percentage of 41.66% and a loss percentage of 54.16%. On the other hand, Litton has captained the Bangla Tigers in four games with three wins and a defeat.
Notably, Shanto is most likely to captain Bangladesh during their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 campaign. Bangladesh have been placed in Group A alongside neighbours India, the defending champions Pakistan and New Zealand. They will begin their campaign against India in Dubai on February 20.
