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Najmul Hossain Shanto, who was appointed captain of Bangladesh for one year, appears to be feeling the weight of the role after only eight months. Following the Chattogram Test against South Africa, the left-handed batsman expressed his desire to step down from leading the team across all three formats.

With Shanto's decision to surrender the captaincy, discussions have arisen about who could lead Bangladesh next. Initial talks among board members suggest they may opt to split the leadership roles across formats.

Reports indicate that Mehidy Hasan Miraz is a strong candidate for the Test and ODI captaincy, while Towhid Hridoy could potentially be handed the T20 captaincy.

Meanwhile, Taijul Islam declared his willingness to captain the Bangladesh team in today’s pre-match press conference in Chattogram. " As I have been playing for 10 years, I am fully prepared," Taijul stated.

However, he also mentioned being unaware of Shanto's intention to step down, adding, “I haven’t heard about this, it’s not my place to know.”

When asked if a team meeting had taken place to discuss a new captain, Taijul clarified, “There hasn’t been any such meeting, and I have no knowledge of it.”

Shanto was appointed as captain following the recent ODI World Cup, replacing Shakib Al Hasan. While Shanto has shown strong performances in ODIs, his results in Tests and T20s have not met expectations.

Although Bangladesh clinched a Test series victory in Pakistan, they struggled in India and recently faced defeat against South Africa in the Mirpur Test.