The Bangladesh Cricket Board has declared that Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead Bangladesh in the forthcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. When the first Test begins in Sylhet on November 28, he will take over as Bangladesh’s 13th captain.
Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh’s normal Test captain, will miss the entire series because of a finger fracture he suffered against Sri Lanka in the 2023 ODI World Cup. Furthermore, it has been reported in the past that the Test team’s vice captain, Litton Das, will miss the New Zealand series in order to spend time with his family.
BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus stated, “Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead the side in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand.”
“Litton requested a one-month leave of absence rather than playing in two Tests because he wanted to spend more time with his family. Since we are unable to force any player to participate, we have granted it. He maintained that he wanted to spend a month with his family, even though we wanted him to play in the second test. He repeatedly insisted that he wanted to spend time with his newborn daughter and her mother. We granted his request,” Yunus continued.
His availability for the remaining matches on the New Zealand tour—three Twenty20 Internationals and as many Twenty20 Tests—remains doubtful, he continued.
“If some cricketer doesn’t want to play, in that case you cannot put him in the national team because the professionalism needs to come from the heart that ‘I want to play for my country’ and he must know whether he is available or not,” he added.
Everyone is accountable for the World Cup’s failure. The Yunis
For the two Test matches against New Zealand, Corey Collymore—who is now the pace bowling coach for the BCB (Bangladesh Cricket Board) High-Performance Unit—will take over Allan Donald’s post, as he just announced his resignation. It is also expected that David Hemp, the High-Performance Unit’s head coach, will become a member of the team management group. In the next few days, the BCB will get together to evaluate its performance at the Cricket World Cup. Yunus stated that everyone was accountable for the team’s success in the major competition.
“Everyone is accountable for the World Cup’s failure. We’ve had a conversation about it with the president, and we’ll be talking about it at the board meeting,” he stated.
The all-rounder has openly stated that he is reluctant to lead the team, but he went on to claim that the BCB is unsure about Shakib captaining the ODI side following his recuperation. He went on to say that the management would have to make an appointment if the top ODI all-around player was not available.
“We don’t have formal knowledge of it. He is hurt, and we won’t know how he is doing until November 28. For that reason, we are keeping quiet regarding his ODI captaincy. In the event that he is unavailable, we will have to offer it to someone else, and the board will decide whether to give it to someone permanently,” Yunus stated.
India
