Shanto to lead Bangladesh in Tests series against New Zealand

Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead Bangladesh in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand, the Bangladesh Cricket Board announced on Saturday (November 18). Najmul will become the 13th Test captain of Bangladesh when the first Test gets underway on November 28 in Sylhet. "Najmul Hossain will lead the side in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand," BCB cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus said.

Cricbuzz had reported that Litton Das, the vice captain of the Test squad, wanted to skip the New Zealand series to be with his family. Regular Test skipper Shakib Al Hasan was ruled out of the series after fracturing his finger during their game against Sri Lanka in the World Cup.

"He(Litton) wanted leave for leave for one months and didn't want to play two Tests as he wanted to give time to his family. We have granted it because we cannot push any player to play," said Yunus. "We wanted him to play the second Test but he insisted that he wants to give time to his family for one month.

"He wanted to be with his new born baby and her mother and as he insisted for several times. We approved his plea," Yunus said, adding that they are not sure whether he will be available for the tour of New Zealand that will commence after the Test series. Bangladesh will play three ODIs and as many T20Is during the tour.

"If some cricketer doesn't want to play, in that case you cannot put him in the national team because the professionalism need to come from the heart that 'I want to play for my country' and he must know whether he is available or not," he added.

Meanwhile, West Indian Corey Collymore, currently working with BCB High Performance Unit as pace bowling coach, will replace Allan Donald (who recently stepped down) for the two Tests against New Zealand while High Performance Unit head coach David Hemp is also expected to join the team management group.

The BCB is expected to sit down in the coming days to evaluate the performance in the World Cup and may also appoint a committee to find out the reason behind their failure in the tournament.

"Everyone has to take the blame for the World Cup. We have sat with the president in this regard and will be having a board meeting where it will be discussed," he said.

Yunus said the BCB is not sure if Shakib will not lead the ODI side in the future despite the all-rounder having publicly stated that he is not ready to captain the team.

"We don't know officially about it. He is injured and after November 28 we will know where he stands injury wise and that is reason we are not saying anything about it (ODI captaincy)," Yunus said. "If he is not available then we have to give it to someone and if we have to give it to someone for a long term basis and the decision will come from the board."

Source: Cricbuzz