Bangladesh coach Phil Simmons confirmed that Litton Das will bat at No. 5 in the ODI series against Pakistan beginning March 11. The change took place when Bangladesh overhauled their stagnant middle-order, with Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah, regulars in that place, now not round.
Litton, who hasn’t reached double-figures in eight ODIs since December 2023, is returning to the ODI side after 9 months. Simmons stated that Litton’s skill towards spin introduced them to the choice.
“First of all, it is very difficult to keep [wicket for] 50 overs and then come and open the batting,” Simmons stated. “[Litton] is also one of our better players of spin bowling. The middle order has been one of our Achilles heels. So, him going down there with his experience and his skills, hopefully we can get what we need there.”
While Bangladesh have dropped Jaker Ali and Nurul Hasan, they’ve retained Mahidul Islam Ankon, who batted at No. 5 towards West Indies final October. Ankon made 69 runs within the three matches, hardly pushing the scoring charge, as he tried to cement his place within the facet.
Litton final batted at No 5 within the 2019 ODI World Cup, when he began with an unbeaten 94 towards West Indies in Taunton. He has, nonetheless, batted within the high 4 for many of his ODI profession. Simmons stated that they did not must work laborious to persuade Litton to take up the function.
“He has been comfortable batting anywhere,” Simmons stated. “I think he’s a lot more relaxed with his game and he sees it as an opportunity to do what the team needs of him. We didn’t have to convince Litton for anything. All we asked was, ‘this is what the team needs’, and he was happy to do it. He is happy to do anything for the team, when he is captain, he’s happy to do it for us now. So, we didn’t have to convince him for anything.”
Bangladesh are enjoying worldwide cricket after three months, having missed the T20 World Cup amid a political standoff. Though it was “hurtful” for the gamers to overlook the match, the home one-dayers helped them keep centered, Simmons stated.
“I think we are at that stage now where we’re getting past that. It was very hurtful for the guys,” Simmons stated. “I’ve been talking to them. It was very, very hurtful. But I think we’re getting to the stage and I think BCL [Bangladesh Cricket League] helped with that little tournament. So we started to get back to the frame of playing 50-over cricket and thinking about these three matches here. So, I think we we’re getting there.”
Simmons stated that he desires the crew to bat the best way they did in the third ODI against West Indies in October final 12 months. Bangladesh scored 296 runs on a raging turner, with the top-order main the best way.
“We finished well against West Indies and we don’t want to go backwards from there. Mind you, the wickets look a lot better than they were for that series so the main thing is to look at progress, which is to bat the way we batted in that in that last game.”
