Shanto’s Test captaincy in numbers

Najmul Hossain Shanto's tenure as Bangladesh's Test skipper came to an end on Saturday when the Southpaw announced he was stepping down from the role following an innings and 78-run defeat to Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Just a few months back, Shanto was leading Bangladesh in all three formats. The left-hander had willingly stepped down from the T20 hot seat in January and was then sacked as the ODI skipper right before the Sri Lanka series begun.

Shanto was reportedly shocked when he was replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz as the ODI skipper, a development he was not made privy to beforehand, and that might have played a role in him deciding to leave captaincy in the five-day format as well.

Under Shanto, Bangladesh clean-swept Pakistan in Pakistan for the first time and also defeated West Indies in the Caribbean after 15 years. But his defensive mindset as captain also drew criticism from some corners.

Here is a look at how Shanto's tenure as Bangladesh's Test captain panned out:

4— Shanto has led Bangladesh to four wins in Tests, the joint second-most of all captains. Under him, Bangladesh beat New Zealand in Sylhet in November 2023, clean-swept Pakistan 2-0 in Rawalpindi in August 2024, and beat Zimbabwe in Chattogram in April this year. Shakib Al Hasan has also won four Tests as captain. Mushfiqur Rahim leads the chart with seven wins as skipper.

14 – Shanto led the Tigers in 14 Tests, fifth most overall. Mushfiqur (34), Shakib (19), Habibul Bashar (18) and Mominul Haque (17) have led in more Tests.

28.57 – As Test captain, Shanto has a win percentage of 28.57, which is the best among all Bangladesh captains who have led in three or more Tests.

36.24 – Shanto averages 36.24 with the bat in Tests as captain – third highest among all Bangladeshis who have led the Tigers in at least three Tests. Mahmudullah tops the list with an average of 59.44 in the six Tests he has led followed by Mushfiqur, who averages 41.44.