Najmul Hossain Resigns as Bangladesh Test Captain After Sri Lanka Defeat

Najmul Hossain Shanto has officially resigned from his position as the Bangladesh Test captain. This announcement follows Bangladesh's disappointing defeat against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was recently stripped off ODI captaincy © AFP

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Najmul stated, "I have an announcement to make. 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."

Najmul further explained his reasoning, suggesting that Bangladesh does not require separate captains for each format of the game. He highlighted the recent appointment of Mehidy Hasan as ODI captain and his own previous resignation as T20I captain as contributing factors to his decision.

"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. This is completely my personal opinion...In my view, having three captains will be difficult for the team. So, for the betterment of the team, I am stepping down," he elaborated.

He also addressed concerns that his decision might be linked to 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," Najmul clarified.

Najmul confirmed that he had already communicated his intentions to the cricket operations department prior to the public announcement.