Shanto named Bangladesh captain

Dhaka, Nov 18: Najmul Hossain Shanto was on Saturday named Bangladesh captain for the two-match home Test series against New Zealand beginning in Sylhet on November 28.
Litton Das, who had captained Bangladesh in a one-off Test against Afghanistan here in June, is on paternity leave for one month.
Regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan, on the other hand, is ruled out due to an injury sustained during the World Cup in India.“Litton has been granted leave for one month, he is not available for the two Tests. He wants to spend time with his new-born baby,” Jalal Yunus, chairman of the BCB’s cricket operations committee, told reporters here.“We had requested him to play at least the second Test match but he insisted on (being away for) the whole series. That’s why we granted him leave. As a result, Najmul Hossain Shanto will captain the side in these two Tests.” The 25-year-old Shanto, with 23 Tests under his belt and a batting average of 29.83 with four centuries, is stepping into his first leadership role for Bangladesh in the longest format.While he hasn’t captained in Tests before, he did lead the team in three ODIs, notably taking charge twice during the 2023 ODI World Cup in the absence of Shakib due to injury for the matches against India and Australia. (PTI)