Bangladesh all-format captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto has set his aim on working for betterment in the one-day format and get glory for the country.
Shanto was handed the charge of the Bangladesh national team for a year last month.
The 25-year old is set to start his role as a full-time captain with the three-match Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka, set to begin Monday at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
The T20I series is followed by three ODIs and two Test matches against the same opponents.
The Tests are part of the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle.
Shanto had previously led Bangladesh in Tests against the Kiwis last year and later during the white-ball tour of New Zealand.
His appointment marks a shift in the Bangladesh Cricket Board's policy to give some of the younger cricketers a permanent leadership role.
“We are performing well in one-dayers but we have not been able to achieve anything in a big tournament as a team. My plan is to make the team play well and achieve something big in a big [one-day] tournament,” said Shanto in Sunday’s press meet in Sylhet.
The left-handed batter informed that his first assignment as a full-time skipper against the Lankans would be a competitive one but he is feeling no pressure.
The southpaw said leading in three formats will allow him to know the players and their abilities more closely.
“I think it will be easier from a planning point of view. I'll need to know every player. Since I'll be the captain in three formats, it will be easier,” he said.
Shanto has come into the series on the back of a below par performance in the just concluded Bangladesh Premier League T20.
Featuring for Sylhet Strikers, he garnered only 175 runs in 12 innings.
“I need to score runs even if I am not the captain, it is my responsibility to score runs as a batsman of the team. Then there is the responsibility to lead the side both on and off the field. It's not that I will need to do something special when I'm the captain. I'll have to score anyways as a batter. First of all, I am a batter and my job is to score runs for the team. Scoring runs has always been my job,” he added.
The second and third T20I will be played at the same venue Wednesday and Saturday respectively.
The two sides will then travel to Chittagong for the three-match ODI series to be held on March 13, 15 and 18 respectively.
The teams will return to Sylhet for the first Test which will begin on March 22 and then move to the port city again for the second and final Test slated to start on March 30 at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
