Najmul Hossain Shanto has been a great stand-in captain for Bangladesh in the absence of Shakib Al Hasan. He has been great during Bangladesh’s ongoing tour of New Zealand. Under his leadership, Bangladesh achieved the first ODI and T20I victory against New Zealand away from home. They also won the test at home in Sylhet against the Kiwis. Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes that Najmul Hossain Shanto has shown all the evidence to be the next full-time captain of the Bangladesh national cricket team.

“I think the atmosphere in the locker room is much better because the communication is very clear, as I said, from Shanto. And they know that they are good enough players to compete and I think that’s why there is no fear in the players’ minds,” he added.

Najmul Hossain Shanto can take Bangladesh to new heights

The Bangladesh Cricket Board needs to look for a permanent long-term captain as Shakib Al Hasan’s days are numbered and Najmul Hossain Shanto can be the first choice for the BCB to lead the team. He has led the Bangladesh team in some of the ODI World Cup matches where Shakib Al Hasan was unavailable. He also led them to their first win against New Zealand away from home.

Bangladesh did not have an auspicious ODI World Cup as they finished eighth with just two wins in nine games. They were defeated by teams like Netherlands and could only win against teams like Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. They were defeated by New Zealand in the ODI series by 2-1, while the T20I series was drawn 1-1 after the second T20I was washed out by rain.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha believes that Najmul Hossain Shanto is a capable leader and can take Bangladesh to new heights in world cricket. Bangladesh team is trying to be a cricket superpower for a long time and Najmul Hossain Shanto can lead them in their quest.