CRICKET POLL

Bangladesh Cricket Board official confirmed on Thursday (January 2) that Najmul Hossain Shanto has decided to step down as the national T20I captain.

Cricbuzz earlier reported that Najmul is not interested to lead the side after the conclusion of the home series against South Africa. Initially, Najmul decided to step down from T20I captaincy following the 2024 World Cup but later changed his mind and wanted to quit from all three formats.

His decision to not lead in any format was overturned after BCB president Faruque Ahmed got involved in the matter and the southpaw was named captain for the three-match ODIs against Afghanistan. There, he picked up an injury.

"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 top BCB official told Cricbuzz. "If there is no injury issue Najmul will remain the captain in Test and ODIs and we have discussed it," he said.

It is understood Litton Das, who insisted that he is ready to take up T20I captaincy on long term basis after guiding the team to 3-0 series win over West Indies, is all set to continue as the captain in the shortest format.

Najmul will, however, lead Bangladesh in the upcoming Champions Trophy. There was speculation that Mehedy Hasan might lead the side after being named as the stand-in captain of Test and ODI on the West Indies tour where the regular skipper missed out due to the injury.