Shanto named Bangladesh captain in all formats

Najmul Hossain Shanto has been named the Bangladesh captain in all three formats by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after a board meeting held at the BCB headquarters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka today.

"We discussed at length about captaincy... The board has decided to appoint Nazmul Hossain Shanto as captain for all three formats for this year", youth and sports minister and BCB president Najmul Hassan Papon told the reporters after the meeting.

Shanto had led the team against New Zealand both home and away series last year in the absence of regular captain Shakib Al Hasan.

Under Shanto's leadership, the Tiger's registered their first ODI and Twenty20 victory against the Kiwis in New Zealand and also a home Test win against the Black Caps.

Shakib, who is now a member of the parliament, had earlier said before last year's ICC ODI World Cup that he would leave the captaincy duties in the 50-over format after the tournament while Shanto had expressed interest to lead the team in all three formats.

Papon said that Shakib was still their 'Number 1 choice for captaincy' but they had to make the change owing to the uncertainty about Shakib's availability due to his eye problems.

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