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January 2, 2025

Najmul Hossain Shanto Quits Bangladesh T20I Captaincy

Najmul Hossain Shanto Quits Bangladesh T20I Captaincy

New year brings a new change to the Bangladesh national cricket team. On Thursday, January 2nd, Najmul Hossain Shanto officially gave up the role of Bangladesh T20I team captaincy.

This decision could not be deemed unexpected as Shanto’s earlier statements did point towards his decision to retire upon the conclusion of Bangladesh vs South Africa series. 

Initially, Najmul had contemplated stepping down from the T20I captaincy after the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 which took place in June. 

However, after contemplating over his decision for the past few months, Shanto collectively gave up his captaincy responsibilities across all formats of the game.

As per reports, the Bangladesh Cricket Board initially supported the skipper’s decision to step down, but the narrative changed when the BCB President Faruque Ahmed intervened unexpectedly.

The President’s intervention resulted in Najmul Hossain Shanto deciding to continue being the captain of the team for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. Fortunately or unfortunately, Shanto’s captaincy stint was cut short due to an injury he acquired during the series.

“Shanto finally told us that he won’t lead in the T20Is, and we accepted it. But since we don’t have T20Is at the moment, we have time on hand, so we are not picking a new captain,” a senior BCB official said.

“If there is no injury issue, Najmul will remain the captain for Tests and ODIs, and we have discussed it,” he added.

It’s worth noting that Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the Bangladesh national cricket team in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025 which is scheduled to take place from February 19th to March 9 in Pakistan and the UAE. 


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