Liton continues on purple patch

Liton Das continued on his stellar run of form as he scored a brilliant 60 runs in the first Twenty20 International of the two-match series between Bangladesh and Afghanistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.

Liton, playing at number three, scored 60 runs off 44 deliveries, with a strike rate of 136.36, hitting four fours and two sixes. His innings proved to be of immense value, especially considering that nobody but him could cross 30 in the whole match.

The right-handed batsman came to this match with a brilliant One-Day International series behind him. He scored 136 and 86 in the second and third ODI of the three-match series against Afghanistan, leading to him winning the player of the series award.

Still, Liton came into this match with a lean patch of form in T20Is. He did not score a fifty in his last 16 innings and got out for a single-digit score nine times. His lean patch of form in the 2021 T20 World Cup had led to him getting dropped from the home T20I series against Pakistan.

Despite a return after being dropped, Liton said he did not have any jitters.

“I had no jitters. In my role, you will be successful sometimes, and sometimes, you won’t be. Like I failed in the World Cup. But that’s in the past. I got my chance in this match, and tried to do well,” Liton said in the post-match press conference.

Despite his consistent run-scoring across formats, Liton refused to call this his best version.

“Not like my best or anything. My thought process is good, I’m timing the ball well, and I will try to carry on for as long as possible,” Liton said.

Liton, up until Thursday, opened the batting for Bangladesh in T20Is but played at number three in the first match.

The 27-year-old said he will be trying to do whatever was required for the team.

“I won’t argue about my batting position. My target is to help the team. If the management tells me to bat at seven, I will. It’s not my call. The team management thought it would be better for me to play at three, I did,” he explained.

Liton also said that he was more composed now.

“I have started to understand that 120 balls are a lot of time if you think differently. I did not understand it before. This is human nature. The more you play, the more you learn. I am trying to understand it to help the team in the future,” he said.