With Skipper Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah returning to the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand, Bangladesh backup captain Litton Das wants them not to take any pressure on their return.
Litton Das wants Tamim-Mahmudullah stress free
Bangladesh is set to play a three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on Thursday. On this occasion, the injured senior players Tamim and Mahmudullah are making a comeback to their side after recovery. They have been rested during the Asia Cup.
Tamim who retired from the ODI captaincy last month, has recovered from a back injury and his match fitness is yet to be seen. With the absence of Shakib, Litton will be leading the side for the ODI series
“When there are two seniors (Tamim and Mahmudullah) it helps in every way,” Litton told reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday (September 20). “There are coming back to play after a while and I don’t want to put any pressure on them. Let them enjoy the game because the chance of success is much more if someone can enjoy the game.”
Litton doesn’t want them to take pressure on the ODI series and wants them to enjoy their match.
“I don’t want to tell about any specific roles (to anyone) because it depends on different situations. If we lose quick wickets and Riyad (Mahmudullah) bhai goes to bat with 30 to 35 overs he will bat as per situation. So there is nothing to say because he is mature and the same thing applies to Soumya and wherever they will bat they will try to score runs. And not only need them every batter need to score runs,” he said.
Litton Das had been running low scores during recent matches and is hoping to make a comeback with his batting skills.
Litton Das is the leading scorer for his country making 1508 runs in 43 ODIs with an average of 39.68. But he had only one half-century in his last nine innings in the ODI format.
“I am trying to find out (my shortcomings) and practicing and hopefully I can make a comeback quickly. There is nothing like (short of) confidence and let’s see what happens,” said Litton.
“We couldn’t do anything tactically because we could not practice for the last couple of days and don’t know how much can we practice today and probably we might have to play the main match without practice. This is a mental game and they have quality spinners (apart from pace bowlers),” he concluded.
Bangladesh and New Zealand will be playing their first ODI match on September 21 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
