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Ahead of their game against West Indies in the Super 12 stage today, Bangladesh face a big question regarding their opening partnership.
Mohammad Naim has scored a couple of fifties in the four matches he played, but the bigger worry lies at the other end, named Liton Das.
In his five matches in this World Cup, Liton has only managed 65 runs, averaging only 13. His Twenty20 internationals form has been a worry throughout the year as he has scored only 140 runs in 14 T2OIs, averaging 10.76.
It’s not just Liton’s stats that are bad, the player looks lost on the field, and his two dropped catches against Sri Lanka, despite being one of Bangladesh’s finest fielders, only reinstated that fact.
Bangladesh fast bowling coach Ottis Gibson had said before their match against England that Liton was a key player and those dropped catches did not diminish what he contributes to the team, despite those dropped catches were of the ones who led Sri Lanka to a win over Bangladesh.
“He is one of our key players. He’s one of our best fielders, first of all. The fact that a couple of catches went down doesn’t diminish from what he contributes to the team. He’s one of our key players, and he has been for a while.
“The reality is that any other fielder in that position could have dropped those catches as well. So, what we do is we get around him, we support him. We remind him of his quality and remind him that he’s a key player for us, and we support that player, whether it is Liton Das or any other player,” Ottis said.
But there is one key point to take away from what Ottis said about Liton, his contribution to the team. The problem has been that Liton is not contributing nearly enough with the bat, his primary role in the side.
Liton’s fall in form has led to Bangladesh’s opening partnerships being nipped within the powerplay. The longest Bangladesh’s opening stand has lasted in this World Cup has been against Sri Lanka, when Naim and Liton stuck together for 35 deliveries.
The only other option Bangladesh have is Soumya Sarkar. But with head coach Russell Domingo being a fan of having a left-right opening combination, it’s tough for the left-handed opener to make the XI, and his failure in the first match of the World Cup does not help either.
If Bangladesh finally decide to go with two left-handed openers, they could give Soumya another chance. Or, they could go for a more adventurous option with Afif Hossain.
The left-handed youngster is not new to opening or batting up the order. Throughout age levels and in the Bangladesh Premier League, Afif has played in the top three with success.
In the 2019-20 Bangladesh Premier League, Afif played as the opener for Rajshahi Royals and scored 370 runs in 14 innings, with a strike rate of 131.20. Sending the youngster could also help Bangladesh revamp their batting order and place another youngster Shamim Hossain late in the order, who has been a successful power-hitter in the domestic arena.
Bangladesh have their back against the wall, and opening is one of their deepest wounds at this moment. With two games lost and matches against Australia and South Africa still to be played, the Tigers need something out of the box to finally hand them their first-ever win in the Super 12 stage.
Liton has been one of the automatic picks for Bangladesh over the last couple of years. But with him performing even worse than the struggling team, it might finally be time to drop him.
