Liton lights up in white-ball too

Liton Das finally brought his red-ball form into the white-ball arena as he smashed a few records with his splendid 136 against Afghanistan at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram on Sunday.

Liton scored 136 off 126 deliveries, hitting 16 fours and two sixes. He reached three figures off 107 deliveries, and in the next 19, he scored 33.

Like any of his other splendid knocks, Liton’s century against Afghanistan was an exhibition of exquisite shot play along with enchanting panache. But what must be a sigh of relief for both Liton and the team management was that this was the first time in seven months that he showed his true colours in Bangladesh’s coloured kit.

Liton said that he found his touch by valuing his wicket more compared to the past. “The wicket was challenging. But it depends on how you plan. I could have come down the wicket and hit a six or a four. But there would have been a high risk, and my dismissal would mean pressure on the team. I have thought about this, that my wicket has value. I am valuing it and hopefully will do so in the future,” Liton said in the post-match press conference.

The centurion added that he believed that if he could stay at the crease, he could score big runs. “As an opener, I have to play a big innings. My first target is to try to bat for 35 overs. I know that considering my calibre, I can score 80 runs against any attack in the world,” he said.

Liton added, “We are becoming seniors too. (laughs) We are developing by playing a lot of matches. Obviously, any new batter at the start of his career, these bowlers become difficult to handle. I have been around for five years, Afif has played for a couple of years. We are gaining experience. We try to apply that knowledge and planning in match situations.”

Though Liton had a hundred in his and Bangladesh’s previous ODI series, his form in T20Is, the format the Tigers have constantly been playing for the last seven months, was under scrutiny. In the last seven months, he played 14 Twenty20 internationals and scored only 198 runs, averaging just 15. Despite all that noise, Liton produced one stellar performance after the other in red-ball cricket.

His success at number six in Tests and failure in opening in T20Is, as well as in the first ODI, saw head coach Russell Domingo facing questions about a change in position for Liton in ODIs, which the South African shrugged off stating that the right-handed batsman had a hundred in Bangladesh’s last ODI series.