Bangladesh's Litton Das Calls for Death Bowling Boost Ahead of T20 World Cup

Litton Das Focuses on Death Bowling Improvements for Bangladesh

Litton Das, the captain of the Bangladesh T20I team, has emphasized the crucial need for his squad to enhance their death bowling capabilities. This call to action comes as the team gears up for the T20 World Cup, set to take place in India and Sri Lanka early next year.

Bangladesh have sealed back-to-back T20I series wins against Pakistan and Sri Lanka © AFP

Despite securing consecutive T20I series victories against Sri Lanka and Pakistan under Litton's leadership, the skipper is urging his bowling attack to step up their game, particularly in the final overs.

"We are bowling very well with the new ball, but we need to do well in the death overs. The team believes the same," Litton stated after the series win against Pakistan. He also highlighted the importance of strong batting performances, noting that consistent run-scoring on good wickets provides bowlers with a greater opportunity to secure victories.

Litton acknowledged the potential of Mustafizur Rahman in the death overs, but stressed the necessity for other bowlers to develop their skills in this area before the World Cup. He believes that improvements across the board will significantly enhance the team's overall performance.

Furthermore, Litton emphasized the importance of maintaining the current rotation policy for pace bowlers. This strategy aims to minimize the risk of losing key players such as Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, and Mustafizur Rahman to injuries ahead of the global tournament.

"Taskin has returned to T20s after a long time. You probably all know that if he keeps playing continuously, the chances of injury are higher for him," Litton explained. He also cited Shoriful's history of groin injuries as a reason for careful management.

Litton stressed the need to understand the workload capacity of each player and highlighted the presence of other talented pace bowlers within the Bangladesh setup. He emphasized that losing any of these key players could jeopardize the team's World Cup aspirations. "Every player deserves an opportunity, but at the same time, their fitness must be carefully monitored," he added.

While acknowledging some inconsistency, Litton expressed confidence in his middle-order batsmen, and the need to have backup options ready in case on injury.

"I believe that (Towhid) Hridoy, the way he bats, along with Jaker (Ali) and Shamim (Patowary), they are currently Bangladesh's best middle-order batters," he said. "At the same time, since our vision is related to the World Cup, if one of these three players gets injured, then we must have backups ready. So, this is always on our mind, and we will try to prepare someone accordingly."

Following a demanding 40-day stretch of continuous cricket, the Bangladesh team is now taking a break before the rescheduled home series against India. A training camp is expected to follow, in preparation for the upcoming Asia Cup.