Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is set to miss the series-deciding third ODI against Afghanistan today and also the forthcoming two-Test series against the West Indies owing to a groin strain, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) informed through a media release today.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto will not take part in the third and final ODI against Afghanistan today in Sharjah owing to a groin injury, confirmed a Bangladesh Cricket Board official.

"To be very honest I'm not happy. Probably I have to bat a bit longer because the wicket was difficult against spin," Shanto, who scored a 119-ball 76, said at the post-match presentation

The ongoing three-match series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan has so far felt like looking inside a time capsule and finding a 50-over series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium from the 90s in all its glory.

Bangladesh kept on breaking Afghanistan’s momentum in phases to eventually come out on top and level the three-match ODI series with a 68-run win in the second ODI at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz claimed that the pitch used for the first ODI of the three-match against Afghanistan on Wednesday changed abruptly to cause a thumping collapse in the Tigers’ batting effort, leading to a 92-run loss at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. 

Bangladesh batters have an abundance of tricks in their basket to surprise the audience.

Once Shanto departed for 47 off 68, Bangladesh’s last seven wickets fell for just 11 runs.

The opening match of the three-match series, scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM (Bangladesh time), will be broadcast live on T Sports and GTV.

If you are a left-handed top-order Bangladesh batter, you would not like the sight of Afghanistan’s left-handed pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi steaming in at you with the new ball.

Bangladesh cricket is unparalleled in terms of one thing -- creating its own mess and then bemoaning the untidiness.

Faruque Ahmed was officially announced as the president of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on 21 August. Yet, just two months in, governance issues are already surfacing within the board. While former president Nazmul Hassan Papon ran operations like a one-man show, Faruque appears to be centralising operations similarly, as seen in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto’s captaincy situation.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Faruque Ahmed said quitting was the easiest option in response to Najmul Hossain Shanto’s reported desire to step down as captain. 

On the day before a Test match, the common practice in Bangladesh is that the captain of the host team would attend the pre-match press conference.

Bangladesh’s all-format captain Najmul Hossain Shanto expressed a wish to step down from captaincy after the ongoing South Africa Test series, the first match of which the Tigers lost by seven wickets in Mirpur last week and the final game to be played in Chattogram from tomorrow.

Bangladesh cricket team reached Chattogram yesterday ahead of the series-deciding second Test against South Africa starting on Tuesday which could also be the last outing for Najmul Hossain Shanto as the Tigers’ skipper.

It was learnt that the board wants Shanto to continue as skipper and are trying to convince him to revert his decision

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said he has no knowledge of former coach Chandika Hathurusingha assaulting a cricketer during the ODI World Cup in India in 2023.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto put forth the same old worn out excuses of ‘not executing plans’ and ‘poor wickets at home’ as reasons for the utter humiliation at the hands of India in the final T20I of the three-match series in Hyderabad yesterday, which ended in a crushing 133-run defeat.

Former Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal suddenly appeared in the press box yesterday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, just before the Tigers’ second T20I against hosts India at the venue.