Najmul Hossain Shanto has resigned from his position as the Bangladesh Test captain, a decision that follows a disappointing series defeat against Sri Lanka. The announcement came after Bangladesh suffered an innings defeat in the second Test in Colombo, concluding their first bilateral contest in the new World Test Championship cycle.

Shanto explained that his decision was made with the team's best interests at heart, emphasizing that having separate captains for each format isn't ideal. He clarified that his choice was not driven by emotion or disappointment related to the series loss. "This is not personal. I have taken the decision for the betterment of the team," Shanto stated. "I think this will help the team. I have been a part of the dressing room for the past few teams. I think three captains [for the three international formats] is not sensible". He added that he would support whatever decision the board makes.

Shanto had only been appointed as the ODI captain in June, before being replaced by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. He expressed concerns about the potential difficulties of managing three different captains across international formats. "I would want that no one feels this decision is emotional, or that I am disappointed by something. I want to make this clear. This is for the betterment of the team,” Shanto further explained.

Despite the series loss, Shanto had a strong individual performance in the first Test in Galle, where he scored centuries in both innings. This achievement made him only the fourth Bangladesh captain to achieve this feat in a Test match. In the two Tests against Sri Lanka, he scored a total of 300 runs, making him Bangladesh's highest run-scorer in the series.

In the second Test, Bangladesh batted first and scored 247 runs, but Sri Lanka responded strongly with 458, thanks to Pathum Nissanka's 158. In the fourth morning, Prabath Jayasuriya's five-wicket haul contributed to Sri Lanka dismissing Bangladesh for 133.

Shanto captained Bangladesh in Test matches from November 2023.