‘Will try to give my 100% as captain’

As Liton Das walked from the Bangladesh dressing room to the press conference room of the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, there was an expected sense of anticipation.

This was Bangladesh’s 12th Test captain taking his place, and maybe a nod towards the not-so-distant future.

Albeit the anticipation and expectancies around, the 28-year-old looked like his usual self - joking in between replies, answering with gusto, and showing his calm persona.

Expectedly, Liton, who has already led Bangladesh in One-Day Internationals and has been the vice-captain for the Test team for some time now, was not too bothered by the added load the armband brings.

“Nothing special. There is a good feeling around. Everyone prioritises Test cricket. Being a Test cricketer is a big thing. And being the captain is obviously something to be proud of,” he said.

Liton hoped that the toss on Wednesday sparks some emotion, “I haven’t thought much about it (the emotions of being captain). Let’s see if I get those emotions when I go down to flip the coin.”

The new Bangladesh skipper, who has been the country’s best batter in Tests in the last couple of years, has not had a smooth ascend to the role in his nine-year career, and thus comes the hunger to make this opportunity.

“It (the journey from start to now) has not been easy. There have been ups and downs. I believe there will be in the future too. If you don’t fail, you don’t learn. Test cricket is a matter of pride. It is a huge thing to play for your country and then comes the captaincy. My personal goal is something very big, and I will try to give my 100% as captain,” he said in the press conference.

However, the real test will be from Wednesday, and by the looks of the pitch, which looked nothing short of a green carpet, Bangladesh are playing it absolutely safe following their horror defeat at the hands of the Afghans four years back, when the track in Chattogram spun.

Pace the way to go

The tinge of green on the pitch suggested that Bangladesh will attack the Afghans with their pace, and Liton suggested they will go with a pace-heavy attack.

“Against a team like them (Afghanistan), it’s normal that you will play on an even wicket. From that aspect, the Afghan skipper has said that they have a good pace attack, and so do we. Let’s see,” he said.

With regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan out, Bangladesh are in tough waters in terms of picking an XI as there is a dilemma regarding whether to pick an extra batter or a bowler.

The new Bangladesh skipper said that he would prefer to have five bowlers at his disposal.

“When you are playing on an even wicket, it’s very difficult if you don’t have five bowlers. I always prefer to have five bowlers in my team when the match is on an even wicket,” he said.

This suggests that Bangladesh would go with a bowling attack consisting of three pacers and two spinners, with only six genuine batters, which would be a concern as the Tigers have not fared excellently with the bat when it comes to Tests in recent times.

“Generally, the matches at Mirpur are played on spinning tracks. The challenge for us now is how to play well on a green surface. This is the matter, how we can stay here and play long innings,” Liton said.

Afghanistan are without ace spinners Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman but concerns don’t end for Bangladesh as they have brought a bunch of spinners in Izharulhaq Naveed, Zahir Khan, and Amir Hamza.

Afghans’ inexperience concern for Tigers

Among the three spinners, Naveed has played only three first-class matches, while Zahir has played 18. However, both of them boast great T20 records, with the former having 21 wickets in the shorter format, while the latter has 98.

Liton paid due respect to the Afghans saying they would take on the match with the same seriousness as they would have with Rashid playing, and added that this inexperienced attack might actually be troublesome for Bangladesh as preparing for them is difficult due to the lack of their bowling footage.

“Those who play international cricket, you have an idea about them. But in the case of new bowlers, you cannot generally see anything beyond their action. We see their best deliveries, and what they can do. There is no other way open for us,” he said.