Najmul Hossain Shanto Resigns as Bangladesh Test Captain After Sri Lanka Series Defeat

Najmul Hossain Shanto has resigned from his position as the Bangladesh Test captain. The announcement follows Bangladesh's defeat to Sri Lanka by an innings and 78 runs in Colombo.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was recently stripped off ODI captaincy © AFP

Najmul communicated his decision at the post-match press conference, stating, "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."

He further explained that his decision was influenced by the potential complications of having separate captains for each format of the game. Bangladesh recently appointed Mehidy Hasan as the ODI captain, and Najmul had previously stepped down as T20I captain.

"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," Najmul stated.

He emphasized that his decision was not driven by personal feelings regarding 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," he clarified.

Najmul also confirmed that he had informed the cricket operations department of his decision several days prior to the public announcement.