Bangladesh appoints Shanto as captain for all formats

DHAKA (Agencies): The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it has appointed batter Najmul Hossain Shanto as captain in all three formats for the next year amid ongoing uncertainty over the availability of former skipper Shakib Al Hasan. Shanto, who captained Bangladesh in a multi-format series against New Zealand in December, will lead the side at the Twenty20 World Cup in the Caribbean and United States in June. The Bangladesh captaincy has been in a state of flux, with Shakib saying he would vacate the one-day international role after the World Cup. The all rounder was diagnosed with a retinal condition in his left eye last month. The BCB said that while they viewed Shakib as their “first choice” to return to the role question marks surrounding his health prompted them to go for Shanto. “We have elected Shanto as captain in all three formats,” BCB President Nazmul Hassan told reporters on Monday. “We discussed the national team captaincy for the longest time in this meeting. We spoke to Shakib, who told us that his eye problem hasn’t gone away. “We are not sure of his availability in the Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe home series. We also have to consider the T20 World Cup that’s coming up. Shakib is definitely our first choice. But we don’t want to stay in any uncertainty.” Bangladesh are next in action against Sri Lanka, with the sides playing three T20Is, three ODIs and two Test matches in March and April.