‘Liton is a batsman we want to keep from scoring big,’ said Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha.
Liton Kumar Das’s T20 form hasn’t been impressive lately. Overall, his T20 performance hasn’t stood out either. But Salman Ali Agha recognizes that Liton is a talented batsman. In this T20 series, Pakistan’s captain is determined not to let Bangladesh’s leader score freely.
Given Liton’s skill and his array of shots, he has the potential to be a very effective T20 batsman. On his day, he can be quite dangerous. The problem is those days come too infrequently.
The upcoming second match against Pakistan will be Liton’s 100th T20 game. Yet his batting average is just 22.41 with a strike rate of only 124.92. He has managed only 11 fifties so far.
In his last 9 innings, he hasn’t scored a fifty, and in the last 27 innings, just one fifty.
Salman Ali Agha knows Liton’s potential well. At a press conference in Lahore before the series, Pakistan’s captain said they want to dismiss the opposing captain quickly.
“Their captain Liton Das is a very good batsman. He’s the kind of player we don’t want to let score freely. If the captain doesn’t score, it can lower their team’s morale,” he said.
Pakistan’s plan also focuses heavily on Bangladesh’s pace attack. Although their two most experienced pacers, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed, are out injured, and young pace star Nahid Rana didn’t join the tour, Salman Ali Agha still respects Bangladesh’s pace depth.
“The way Bangladesh plays now, their pace attack is quite good. Earlier, they had maybe one or two good pacers. Now, they have three or four bowlers who are very good. We haven’t targeted any one bowler; we’ve planned against all of them,” he explained.
Before heading to Pakistan, Bangladesh suffered an unexpected series loss in the UAE. Their T20 performance has never been very consistent. But Salman sees no chance for comfort when it comes to the opposition.
“No series in international cricket is easy. Bangladesh is a strong team. Our aim is to play the kind of cricket we want and to perform well in this series. It’s never easy to beat any team in international cricket,” he said.
The three-match series starts in Lahore on Wednesday at 9 PM Bangladesh time.
