With Shakib Al Hasan struggling with his vision, the BCB showed faith in Shanto to lead the men's team across all 3

formatshaving captained in 2 Tests, 6 ODIs and 3 T20Is. He also led in 2 matches when Shakib was absent during the World Cup 2023 on Indian soil.

Shanto said that captaining Bangladesh in all 3 formats comes with challenges, but it will be easier to plan before international assignments. is set to start his journey as the all-format skipper for Bangladesh when the Tigers lock horns with Sri Lanka at home.

Shanto, in the meantime, reckoned that Bangladesh need to up their game in Test cricket to be rated amongst the best.

"I don't think we have improved a lot in Test cricket, but we are playing better than before and what I want personally is that when we are playing at home we can win those matches and everyone should build-up [understand] the importance of Test cricket. When we are going abroad we should be able to compete," he stated.

Shanto, himself, has not been in the best of form of late. In 12 matches for the Sylhet Strikers in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2024, the southpaw scored 175 runs at an average of 14.58 and a strike-rate of 93.58 with a top score of 39.