Najmul Hossain Shanto

An elegant and smooth left-handed batter, Najmul Hossain Shanto has seen an atmospheric rise in his career as he was assigned to be Bangladesh’s all-format captain entering the 2024 season. Shanto is developing into a consistent and reliable performer for the team following his regular inclusion into the team in the 2017 season.

Najmul Hossain Shanto led the Bangladesh team to a famous 2-0 Test victory in Pakistan, visiting and winning both Tests. Now they prepare for an important series in India, with Shanto looking to make the most of this opportunity to win Bangladesh their first Test against their neighbours, and write his name into the history books.

Youth and domestic career

Najmul Hossain Shanto was considered a prodigious batter while coming up through age group cricket in Bangladesh, as a star performer for Rajshahi. He received call-ups to the 2016 and 2018 U-19 World Cups, finishing as his team’s top-scorer in the latter, and was soon making his debut for the Bangladesh senior team in 2017.

Debut and early international career

Shanto’s strong domestic performances and youth showings led to him being awarded his first international cap in a Test match in New Zealand early in 2017.

Despite his early start, Najmul Hossain Shanto was in and out of the squad for the following years, never really able to nail down a spot in Bangladesh’s top order as a young players, with the Tigers continuing to prefer experienced batting.

Shanto, however, did lead Bangladesh’s developmental team in the ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in 2019.

A turning point arrived for Shanto with his first Test century in 2021, as he scored 163 for his maiden ton against Sri Lanka in Pallekele. He has gone on to score four more centuries in the years since.

Breakthrough and captaincy in 2023

2023 was the breakthrough year for Najmul Hossain Shanto, soon after he finished the 2022 T20 World Cup as Bangladesh’s leading scorer. The performance nailed down his spot for the following year, and he made the most of his chances.

Shanto scored two ODI centuries in 2023, including his debut limited overs century against Ireland, as well as 3 very impressive Test centuries. This included centuries in both innings against Afghanistan in Dhaka. This made him only the second Bangladesh batter and first since Mushfiqur Rahim in 2013 to ton up in both innings of a single Test match. He added on with an impressive century against New Zealand in Sylhet.

He averaged 55.00 in Tests in 2023, as well as a much improved 41.33, despite a lean spell towards the end of the year. He finished as Bangladesh’s leading scorer for the calendar year, in aggregate and across all formats.

Najmul Hossain Shanto would take over captaincy duties in January 2024 after his terrific year, becoming the Bangladeshi skipper in all three formats as the Tigers look to the future. At only 26 years old, Shanto has an opportunity to establish himself as the long-term leader for the Tigers with plenty of time ahead of him.