Bangladesh Crumbles While Testing Bench Strength: Liton Defends Strategy after Loss to Pakistan in Final T20
Bangladesh Crumbles While Testing Bench Strength: Liton Defends Strategy after Loss to Pakistan in Final T20
Bangladesh’s Collapse While Testing Everyone—Naim Walks Back After Another Wicket Falls.
As Pakistan captain Salman Agha left the press conference room, he patted Liton Das on the back and joked with the journalists, “Ask him some tough questions…”
And the first question posed to Liton at the press conference was indeed pointed—why make five changes to the playing XI when on the brink of a 3–0 series whitewash against Pakistan?
Liton replied that they mainly wanted to test the strength of the bench. With this being Bangladesh’s last series before the Asia Cup, the goal was to give everyone in the squad a chance.
However, it must be said that Bangladesh failed this test as a team. After sealing the series by winning the first two matches, Liton’s team lost the third and final match by 74 runs. Still, the captain voiced his delight at Bangladesh’s first-ever T20I series win over Pakistan.
Liton credited the bowlers for this success:
“The bowlers played a major role in this series win—bowling Pakistan out for 110 in the first match, and defending 135 in the second. That was a huge challenge.”
Even though Pakistan scored 178 in the last match, Liton did not blame the bowlers. Instead, he called them his trump card, which is why players like Taskin and Shoriful were rested. With major tournaments like the Asia Cup and World Cup ahead, Bangladesh has begun to dream big after back-to-back series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
Liton’s words further clarify Bangladesh’s current strategy:
“If we lose any of them [the main bowlers], we won’t be able to fulfill the hopes and dreams we’re envisioning.”
But the question remains: Can playing on bowler-friendly pitches really prepare the team for the Asia Cup? T20 cricket around the world is generally dominated by batters, and that’s expected to be the case in the UAE-hosted Asia Cup as well.
Even without blaming the pitch, Pakistan captain Salman Agha admitted:
“This wasn’t an ideal surface to prepare for the Asia Cup or the World Cup.”
He emphasized the need to adapt and perform on any wicket, something he felt his team failed to do in the first two games.
“This kind of pitch won’t be available in upcoming tournaments, and we don’t want such preparation either.”
On the other hand, Bangladesh captain Liton Das offered a different perspective. At the start of the press conference, when asked about Asia Cup preparation, he cited low-scoring matches during the previous T20 World Cup in the West Indies.
When asked whether playing on a batting-friendly Chattogram pitch would’ve been better, Liton responded:
“If you play every day on 180–190-run wickets, you may fail one day, and maybe in the next two matches as well. For these three matches, no one had a fixed plan for scoring 180.”
Not a Clean Sweep—but a Missed Opportunity
Bangladesh has previously whitewashed Pakistan in ODIs and Test series. A similar opportunity came in the T20 format this time—but it slipped away.
Despite not completing a clean sweep, Liton has managed to stabilize the T20 team after six consecutive losses. His remarks make it clear that not many changes are expected before the Asia Cup. Just as he has settled the bowling unit, he’s shaping up the batting lineup as well.
He also shared his confidence in the current middle order:
“Hridoy-Zakir, Shamim—they are the best middle-order batters in Bangladesh at the moment, in my opinion. The later they come in to bat, the better it is for the team.”
