
Shanto dropped from Bangladesh T20i side vs Sri Lanka as the team rings in the changes for the 5-match series.
Shanto dropped by Bangladesh, make five changes for SL T20Is.
Najmul Hossain Shanto was one of five changes made to the Bangladeshi T20I team by the selectors for the three-match series against Sri Lanka later this month. Although Shanto was included in the squad for their May T20I series against Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, he only played in one of the six games.
Shanto had a lacklustre 2024, averaging 18.84 in 21 Twenty20 Internationals and scoring just one half-century. He performed better in 2023, though, collecting 218 runs at an average of 31.14 in 10 innings while maintaining a higher strike rate of 119.78. He is now completely absent from the team after resigning as captain of the T20I team in January of this year.
Along with four other bowling unit alterations, left-handed opener Mohammad Naim has been called up to replace Shanto. During the 2024–25 domestic season, Naim, who has participated in 35 T20Is, has found his form again. With 827 runs at an average of 37.59 and a strike rate of 140.40, including a century and six fifties, he finished as the best run scorer in both the BPL and NCL T20s.
After recovering from injuries, pacers Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman have also rejoined the team and played in Wednesday’s opening ODI against Sri Lanka. In addition, Mohammad Saifuddin was recalled, making his comeback after almost a year.
Following a poor showing in the May T20I series against Zimbabwe, the 28-year-old fast bowler was left out of last year’s T20 World Cup. In August, he then took a two-month hiatus from cricket. Saifuddin has taken 37 wickets in Bangladesh’s top white-ball leagues, the BPL and DPL, since his return.
The team has kept Shoriful Islam, who strained his groin during the second Twenty20 International match against Pakistan in May. Another change has occurred in the spin department, as Tanvir Islam has been replaced by Nasum Ahmed. It appears that the selectors are still unsure of their favourite choice for the white-ball formats, as evidenced by the constant switching between left-arm spinners.