Najmul Hossain Shanto

Najmul Hossain Shanto (নাজমুল হোসেন শান্ত; born 25 August 1998) is a Bangladeshi cricketer and currently captain of the men's national team in all formats.

He is the second Bangladeshi to score a century in domestic Twenty20s after Sabbir Rahman.

In December 2015, he was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2016 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. He was also selected for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 and scored the most runs (180 runs in 5 matches) for Bangladesh cricket team.

Early and personal life
Shanto comes from Ranhat in Rajshahi, and began his cricket training at the Clemon Rajshahi Cricket Academy. The academy was almost 20 kilometers away from his home, so he would cycle and walk each day to get there.

He married Sabrin Sultana Ratna in 2020 during the lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Domestic career
He made his Twenty20 (T20) debut on 8 November 2016 playing for Comilla Victorians in the 2016–17 Bangladesh Premier League.

In December 2017, he and Mizanur Rahman, batting for Rajshahi Division against Dhaka Metropolis in the 2017–18 National Cricket League, made the highest opening partnership in a domestic first-class match in Bangladesh, scoring 341 runs.

He was the leading run-scorer in the 2017–18 Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, with 749 runs in 16 matches.

In October 2018, he was named in the squad for the Khulna Titans team, following the draft for the 2018–19 Bangladesh Premier League. In August 2019, he was one of 35 cricketers named in a training camp ahead of Bangladesh's 2019–20 season. In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Khulna Tigers in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.

On 8 December 2020, in the 2020–21 Bangabandhu T20 Cup, Najmul scored a century for Minister Group Rajshahi against Fortune Barishal.

In November 2022, he was selected to play for Sylhet Strikers, following the players' draft for the 2022–23 Bangladesh Premier League. He was the highest run-scorer in that tournament, hitting 516 runs including four fifties. He also became the first Bangladeshi player to score more than 500 runs in a BPL season. He won the player of the tournament award for his performance.

International career
In November 2016, he was named in a 22-man preparatory squad to train in Australia, ahead of Bangladesh's tour to New Zealand. In January 2017 he was added to Bangladesh's Test squad ahead of the second Test against New Zealand. He made his Test debut in the second Test against New Zealand on 20 January 2017.

In August 2018, he was one of twelve debutants to be selected for a 31-man preliminary squad for Bangladesh ahead of the 2018 Asia Cup. He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Bangladesh against Afghanistan on 20 September 2018.

In December 2018, he was named in Bangladesh's team for the 2018 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup. After being dropped from the team since 2018 Asia Cup, he was again recalled for the 2019–20 Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series. He made his T20I debut for Bangladesh, against Zimbabwe, on 18 September 2019.

In November 2019, he was named as the captain of Bangladesh's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh. Later the same month, he was named as the captain of Bangladesh's squad for the men's cricket tournament at the 2019 South Asian Games. The Bangladesh team won the gold medal, after they beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the final.

In April 2021, in the opening match of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, he scored his first century in Test cricket, with 163 runs in the first innings. In July 2021, Shanto scored his second Test hundred against Zimbabwe in Harare.

In September 2022, Shanto was named in Bangladesh's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. On 30 October 2022, in the match against Zimbabwe, Shanto scored his maiden half-century in T20I cricket. His score of 71 runs off 55 balls helped Bangladesh to win the match by 3 runs. He was the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in that tournament hitting 180 runs, including another fifty against Pakistan.

In March 2023, he was named in Bangladesh's T20I and ODI squad for their series against England. On 1 March 2023, in the second ODI, he claimed his maiden half-century in ODI cricket. He continued his good form scoring 51 runs off just 30 balls in the first T20I, helping Bangladesh to win the match by 6 wickets and clinch their first T20I win against England.

In the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June 2023, Shanto became the second Bangladeshi to score two centuries in a Test, making 146 and 124.

In December 2023, he scored his 5th hundred of the test career which came against New Zealand in the first test of the 3-match series. Bangladesh went on to win that match by 150 runs.

In May 2024, he was named as a captain in Bangladesh's squad for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.

Captaincy
In February 2024, Shanto was named captain of the Bangladesh cricket team for all formats by the selection committee.

In March 2024, Shanto scored 122* against Sri Lanka in the first match of a 3 game ODI series. This is the highest score by a Bangladeshi captain in men’s ODIs.