Liton Das’s Struggles: A Concern for Bangladesh Ahead of the T20 World Cup

Liton Das, the 30 years old wicket-keeper batter of Bangladesh men’s cricket team made first international appearance in a Test match against India in 2015. His 44 off 45 balls in that innings, together with several charismatic performances against top-ranked teams like India, South Africa, and New Zealand in different formats in the early days, showed promise of him becoming the ultimate successor to Mushfiqur Rahim, the undisputed all-time best wicket-keeper-batsman of Bangladesh.

Though the expectation set by this batter is often stumbled mainly because of his inconsistency; he is still a beacon of hope to many for saving the team from the struggles in the limited over cricket.

Liton Das’s Recent Performance Analysis

In search of some reasonable grounds to become optimistic about Bangladesh’s success in the upcoming World Cup, Liton Das stands out as a shining one because of some amazing memories he gifted to the fans. Especially, his 60 off just 27 balls against India in the last T20 World Cup evidences how brutal he can be in T20s. But, his very recent form in this format deepens the tension too!

Apart from some amazing innings, we look into the Liton’s T20 career thoroughly, the overall the stats don’t reflect a great cricketer’s journey. In 79 international T20 innings, Liton Das has scored 10 fifties with average of 23.25 which doesn’t indicate an impressive one considering his talent and opportunities; yet not too poor considering overall situation of Bangladeshi batters.

However, the recent form of Liton Das is so frustrating that it has even questioned his eligibility to stay in the World Cup squad. In 2024, Liton has played six T20Is so far and scored only 79 runs. While having such poor average of 13.16, the strike rate is just 97.53 which is not at all convincing for a T20 opener.

Liton’s T20 Performance in last 10 matches

SI	Date of the Match	Opponent	Host	Runs Scored	Balled Faced	6s	4s	Strike Rate	Match Result of Bangladesh
1	7th May, 2024	Zimbabwe	Bangladesh	12	15	–	2	80.00	Won by 9 runs
2	5th May, 2024	Zimbabwe	Bangladesh	23	25	1	2	92.00	Won by 6 wickets
3	3rd May, 2024	Zimbabwe	Bangladesh	1	3	–	–	33.33	Won by 8 wickets
4	9th May, 2024	Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	7	11	–	1	63.64	Lost by 28 runs
5	6th May, 2024	Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	36	24	5	1	150.00	Won by 8 wickets
6	4th March, 2024	Sri Lanka	Bangladesh	0	3	–	–	0	Lost by 3 runs
7	27th Dec, 2023	New Zealand	New Zealand	42*	36	1	4	116.67	Won by 5 wickets
8	16th July, 2023	Afghanistan	Bangladesh	36	36	6	–	100.00	Won by 6 wickets
9	14th July, 2023	Afghanistan	Bangladesh	19	18	–	2	94.74	Won by 2 wickets
10	31st March, 2023	Ireland	Bangladesh	4	5	–	1	125.00	Lost by 7 wickets

These stats show that Liton Das couldn’t score a fifty in his last 10 T20 matches even after facing teams like Ireland and Zimbabwe in home ground! How the selectors, coaching panel, captain and all the well-wishers of Bangladesh cricket can ignore this!

Even after all these, Liton is hoped to spark like he did previously. His performance in 2022, when the last T20 Word Cup held not unsatisfying. Let’s see his performance in last 10 T20 matches of 2022: 

SI	Date of the Match	Opponent	Host	Runs Scored	Balled Faced	6s	4s	Strike Rate	Match Result of Bangladesh
1	6th November, 2022	Pakistan	Australia	10	8	1	–	125.00	Lost by 5 wickets
2	2nd November, 2022	India	Australia	60	27	3	7	222.22	Lost by 5 runs
3	30th October, 2022	Zimbabwe	Australia	14	12	–	3	116.67	Lost by 3 runs
4	27th October, 2022	South Africa	Australia	34	31	1	1	109.68	Lost by104 runs
5	24th October, 2022	Netherlands	New Zealand	9	11	–	–	81.82	Won by104 runs
6	13th October, 2022	Pakistan	New Zealand	69	42	2	6	164.29	Lost by 7 wickets
7	12th October, 2022	New Zealand	New Zealand	23	16	1	3	143.75	Lost by 48 runs
8	9th October, 2022	New Zealand	New Zealand	15	16	–	2	93.75	Lost by 8 wickets
9	7th October, 2022	Pakistan	New Zealand	35	26	1	4	134.62	Lost by 21 runs
10	27th September, 2022	UAE	UAE	25	20	–	4	125.00	Won by 32 runs

This shows that he was inconsistent on that time too; but was able to deliver some good innings at least!

Impact on Bangladesh’s T20 Squad

While we are talking about the inconsistency of Liton, a bitter fact in Bangladesh Cricket is obvious to accept that that there are not many consistent yet aggressive batters in the country. As an opener and proven big hitter, Liton’s good start in power plays largely eases the path for the middle order players.

Bangladesh currently has good finishers like Hridoy, Riad, Rishad to carry the innings to the end. If Liton can set up the momentum for the team then the chances of win for Bangladesh team broadens. That’s why his impact is highly considered for the success of this team whenever he is in the squad.

Factors Contributing to Liton Das’s Off-Form

Besides some amazing innings, the batting style of Liton is praised experts round the globe. Name one classical batter of Bangladesh and Liton’s name will come to the mind first. Then what’s the problem with this natural stroke player? Most analysts have opined that there are still some technical problems with his batting style with which he should work vigorously.

Besides, the way he got dismissed in recent matches clearly shows that he is losing his focus while on the field. When the management expects a lot from him and he has a considerable number of fans, he is severely criticized in social media for each of his poor performances. Perhaps all of this puts immense pressure on him and obstructs him from playing his natural game.

Alternatives of Liton Das for the Upcoming Mega Event

Since Liton Das is failing to get out his poor form, it won’t be surprising if the selecters consider someone else instead. That is where a question arise, who are some promising players who can replace his in the upcoming event? Let’s find out:

Tanjid Hasan Tamim

The young talented batter gained the experience to face new ball in ODI world cup last year. His stroke making ability has already made the most deserving one for a spot in the opening. He is showing his caliber in the current Zimbabwe series as well where he played his very first T20 international match for his country. Even if he does not replace Liton, he is expected join him in the opening.

Parvez Hossain Emon

Another promising batter with not much international experience though. In 3 appearances in T20s, he scored only 54 runs with a strike rate of 8.33. However, in BPL 2024, he played some good knocks with an average of 19.75 which is not modest but that is what Bangladesh have to replace Litton Kuma das.

Anamul Haque

In 20 appearances in T20Is, Anamul Haque scored 395 runs with strike rate 112.70 which makes him one of the best possible options to consider. Anamul’s recent form the local league also show his viability for this format. Fans often complain that Anamul did not get many chances like Liton in international cricket and therefore, couldn’t flourish.

Mohammad Naim Sheikh

With average of 24.00 and strike rate 103.4, Naim Sheikh did not perform as expected by the management previously. Yet, Liton Das’s off form reminds that he can be a better contributor for the team at this stage considering his experience in international arena. However, he has a  bad reputation of giving too many dot balls and not rotating strikes.

Conclusion

When a part of cricket followers is already fade up with Liton’s frequent poor shows, it’s clear that the selectors still expect a bounce back from him as he is again in the squad of last 2 matches against Zimbabwe. His intent has already proved that he can bring proud moments for Bangladesh just like he did it against India in last World Cup. Bangladesh supports want to see Liton playing like the way watching which West Indian legend Ian Bishop once said, “Liton’s bat is like a paintbrush which draws Monalisa on the cricket ground when he is in form”.