Shanto resigns from his role as T20I captain

A Bangladesh Cricket Board official confirmed on Thursday that Nazmul Hossain Shanto has decided to step down as the captain of the Twenty20 International team, according to Cricbuzz.

The cricket website had previously reported that Shanto no longer wished to lead the team following the home series against South Africa. Initially, Shanto planned to step down from the T20I captaincy after the 2024 T20 World Cup but later reconsidered and expressed his desire to quit as captain in all formats.

His decision to step down from all leadership roles was reversed after BCB president Faruk Ahmed intervened, leading to Shanto being named captain for the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan. During this series, he sustained an injury.

"Shanto finally informed us that he would not continue as T20I captain, and we accepted it. However, as we don’t have any T20I matches at the moment, we have time, and so we are not appointing a new captain yet," a senior BCB official told Cricbuzz.

"If there are no injury concerns, Shanto will remain the captain for Tests and ODIs, and we’ve discussed this," the official added.

It is understood that Liton Das, who expressed his readiness to take on the T20I captaincy long-term after leading the team to a 3-0 series win over the West Indies, is set to continue as the captain in the shortest format.

Shanto will, however, continue to lead Bangladesh in the upcoming Champions Trophy.

There had been speculation that Mehedi Hasan Miraz might be appointed as captain after serving as the stand-in captain during the West Indies tour when the regular skipper was unavailable due to injury.