The senior Bangladesh National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Litton Das has expressed his desire to become the permanent T20I captain of the team.
Litton Das said that he enjoys leading Team Bangladesh, and if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) asks him to take over the role on a full-time basis, he would happily accept it.
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BCB eyeing long-term captain
Najmul Hossain Shanto is the all-format skipper of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team. He had expressed the desire to relinquish the captaincy to improve his performance.
The star batter had conveyed a message to the Bangladesh Cricket Board about his unwillingness to captain the T20I team before deciding otherwise. After the involvement of BCB president Faruque Ahmed in the matter, Najmual Hossain Shanto was named captain of the team in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and agreed to continue as all-format captain.
However, he picked up a groin injury in that series and was ruled out of the subsequent all-format series against West Indies. Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the team in the Test and ODI series against West Indies while the selection committee put faith in Litton Das to lead the team in the T20I series.
Bangladesh managed to level the Test series 1-1 but they were whitewashed 0-3 in the ODI series. However, under the leadership of Litton Das, they bounced back strong and registered a 3-0 win in the T20I series.
As far as captaincy is concerned, if the BCB asks me to lead then I am ready to do it – Litton Das
Litton, who had previously led the side before being removed from the position, said that he is ready to become a full-time skipper of Bangladesh in the T20I format despite his awful form with the bat.
“As far as captaincy is concerned, if the BCB asks me to lead then I am ready to do it because there is no reason [not to] and I am enjoying it,” Litton told reporters after the win, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“I take a lot of decisions on the field from the experience that I have got playing for so long and the skill that the bowlers developed it is easier to run the show on the field.
“As a captain I never said that you give everything [on the field]. All I said was that they [West Indies] are a better side and on their day they can destroy at their home ground and so the information was like we will go and enjoy the cricket and whatever the result we will take that with a smiling face and we will try to fulfill our responsibility,” he said.
Overall if I have to say our bowling attack was outstanding – Litton Das
Litton Das further showered rich praise on the Bangladesh bowlers for their performance on the West Indies tour. He stated that both spinners and pacers did a good job in all three formats.
“Overall if I have to say our bowling attack was outstanding and the way they bowled in three formats, both the pacers and spinners. I was behind the wickets and I was feeling good as every batter was struggling,” he said.
“The thing is that if the bowlers bowl well, behind the wickets it gets easier for me and like I said the bowlers know what kind of field set-up they need so it’s easy for me.”
Litton Das also admitted that Team Bangladesh doesn’t have a destructive batting unit, but a balanced one that can post decent totals, which the bowlers can defend.
“Look, they are a better side and I would say that and on their home ground they are a good side. But, when five bowlers bowl well and from top to bottom we have a balanced batting unit – I won’t say we have a destructive batting unit but we have a balanced side – and if we can put some runs on the board I feel the bowlers are developing their skill and every match the bowlers took responsibility on their own. They are doing their own field set-up and learning a lot of things and I feel that it is goodsign,” he said