Najmul Hossain Shanto on Monday stated that he decided to continue as the Test captain after putting the country’s interests over his personal ones.
Shanto announced that he would step down from the role after their drubbing by Sri Lanka in June. However, ahead of the Ireland series, the BCB reinstated him in the role to continue until the end of this cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.
‘I have said the reason before [for stepping down]. But I felt that the Cricket Board communicated with me in a very nice way. Then, there were good and healthy conversations with everyone,’ Shanto said during a press conference ahead of the first Test at Sylhet International Stadium on Monday.
‘At one point, I felt that Bangladesh cricket was much bigger than me as an individual. And the needs of the Bangladesh team are a greater concern than my own thoughts,’ he added.
Earlier, Shanto said that according to his personal view, different captains for different formats wasn’t ideal. But after he was reinstated, the national team now has three captains.
However, Shanto has seemed to be convinced by the idea now.
‘I didn’t actually say much about any ‘problems.’ But as I said, there was a nice, healthy conversation with the board. We discussed how we can collectively handle the problems that might arise — or are already happening—and how to prevent those problems from happening at all,’ he said.
‘We were all positive from our respective places on these issues. I hope that the team will move forward in a very positive way in the future, and I believe that the Board will fully support me in that regard,’ he added.
Shanto, who was stripped of the ODI captaincy before he had stepped down from the Test, said that he had a good understanding with the other two captains: Mehidy Hasan Miraz (in ODI) and Litton Das (in T20I).
‘More importantly, the understanding among the captains is very good. We sat together and communicated about how to take our team forward in the three formats and what areas we need to improve in. This communication has taken place among the three of us,’ he said.
Shanto is expected to lead both Mehidy and Litton in the Test series.