A day before Bangladesh begin their campaign in the Asian Games 2026 men's cricket event against Malaysia, Test captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has been ruled out of the event due to a fever, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) informed on Monday.

“Shanto has had a fever since arriving in Nagoya with the team, and tests have confirmed evidence of an infection. He will depart for Dhaka on Tuesday,” read a BCB statement.

“Shanto had been suffering from fever since we landed. It has been four days already, but the fever has persisted,” national team physiotherapist Bayjedul Islam Khan was quoted in the statement.

“It is a low-grade fever, and tests conducted here have confirmed evidence of an infection, although he has tested negative for influenza and COVID-19.

“He is understandably very weak and is not expected to recover in time to play any part in these Games. Therefore, he is flying back home,” he concluded.

The BCB did not name Shanto’s replacement.

Earlier, all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin had been ruled out of the squad owing to a hamstring injury. He was replaced by mystery spinner Aliss Al Islam.

Bangladesh will begin their campaign with a quarterfinal clash against Malaysia.

If Bangladesh win, they will face either Pakistan in the semifinal on October 1.

On Monday, both quarterfinal clashes between India and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Hong Kong were rained out.

India and Pakistan progressed to the next round owing to their superior ranking.

Similarly, if Bangladesh's match gets rained out, they will progress to the last four.