Not so long ago, Bangladesh scripted their first series victory against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka and an unexpected winner rose up but his name wasn’t unfamiliar to the skipper Litton Das. When Bangladesh skipper Litton Das first received their tour schedule for Sri Lanka, he selected offspinner Mahedi Hasan for the third Twenty20 International at the R Premadasa Stadium. Mahedi returned the favor by grabbing a career-high 4 for 11 in Bangladesh’s most recent T20 victory by eight wickets.
“We felt that Mahedi’s skills would be a perfect fit for the Colombo wicket,” Litton said after Bangladesh’s victory. “It doesn’t mean he doesn’t bowl well on other wickets. I had planned it as soon as I saw the schedule that Mahedi will be my first name in the line-up at this venue. It also doesn’t mean that Mehidy [Hasan Miraz] is not a good bowler or batter. As a team leader, I will think deeply about the surface before choosing a team. A bowling-friendly surface will always make me pick Mahedi. If it is batting-friendly, Miraz will come back into the team.”
It was a special moment for Mahedi as well who was making his comeback in the side after missing out on the last five T20s for his side. He wasn’t part of the first two games as he conceded plenty against UAE and Pakistan in May. Nevertheless, it was harsh on Mahedi who was player of the series in December against West Indies
It was only the second time Bangladesh won a T20I series after down 1-0 in three matches, and Litton claimed he never lacked faith, which enabled them to win the series.
“It is a proud moment for me as a captain. I am happy that the fans are also happy seeing us win a T20I series in Sri Lanka,” he said. “We always try to give our 100% in the middle. We train in the way that we can give 100% in the middle. I always had the belief. I never had a shortage of belief in my ten years at this level.”
“We didn’t play bad cricket in all the formats. It looks different as we had some batting collapses,” he said. “All the batters fell for 30-35 runs in the second Test, which had a good batting track. Someone had to play a big knock. It was the same in the first ODI: we lost plenty of wickets in a collapse. We need to be more focused as a batting unit, and take responsibility with our choices of shots, [and] we will do better.”
In this recently concluded series, Litton also found himself among runs after slump, the captain acknowledged he was hungry to score runs and was looking for an opportunity.
“I think hunger was a factor, I wasn’t scoring runs for a long time,” he said. “I was looking for an opportunity to grab. It was a plus point in the second T20I. I think winning changes the face of the team. We also won the second game by 83 runs, which is a huge achievement. The whole team had the confidence of winning if we played our best cricket.
“All I can do is try hard. I don’t sit in the hotel room. I don’t miss training sessions. You have to keep trying as a player. You also need blessing from God. I think luck smiled at me in the second T20I. But I keep trying hard on and off the field. I worked on my own mostly. There are some people who helped me. It can be motivating too.”
Now Bangladesh is back to Dhaka where they are preparing for an upcoming three-match T20 series against Pakistan which starts from 20th July.
