Shanto replaces Shakib Al Hasan, who has been suffering from a vision problem caused by an issue with the retina of his left eye.

We discussed about captaincy at length…after the lengthy discussion we reached in consensus to appoint Najmul Hossain Shanto as the captain of Bangladesh in all three formats for this year,” BCB president Nazmul Hassan said after a board meeting.

Shanto's first assignment as full-time captain will come against Sri Lanka, which will visit Bangladesh in March for two tests, three one-day and three Twenty20 international matches.

Shanto previously led Bangladesh in Shakib's absence for 11 matches over the three formats, including two matches in 2023 World Cup.

He also guided the side against New Zealand in both home and away series last year. Bangladesh registered its first ODI and T20 victories against the Kiwis in New Zealand and also had a home test win under his captaincy.

Shanto scored 1,650 runs, averaging 42.30, across all formats last year. He also hit five centuries, the most by a Bangladeshi batter in a calendar year.