Litton Das

Born in Dinajpur, Bangladesh, Liton Das is a right-handed opening batsman and a wicket-keeper who has played in two under-19 World Cups for the Tigers. He impressed everyone with his superb technique and was touted as the next big thing in Bangladeshi cricket.

Das made his first class debut in the year 2011. He had a disappointing start to his career, but his stock rose after the under-19 World Cup in 2014, where he amassed 239 runs in just 4 innings. 

Post the under-19 World Cup, Das was at his best in the domestic circuit. He was the second highest-run getter in the Dhaka Premier League and amassed more than 1000 runs in the first-class season. 

It was time for the selectors to take notice of his performances, and Das was handed his Test debut in June 2015 against India. He looked composed and played a good hand of 44 in the first innings. 

In the following Test series against the Proteas, Das scored his maiden Test fifty against a good quality South African attack.

Das has been in and out of the Bangladesh team, mainly due to performance issues. His inability to play the long innings has hampered his cricketing career.

In the final of the 2018 Asia Cup, Das played the innings of his life against India. He scored a well crafted 121 off just 117 deliveries, but the runs went in vain as the Men in Blue prevailed in the final. Despite the result, Das was declared the Player of the Match for his stunning knock. 

Das was a part of the Bangladesh team for the 2019 World Cup. In a group stage match against the Windies, he scored an unbeaten 94 and shared an unbroken stand of 189 with Shakib Al Hasan, to help Bangladesh to a famous victory in the World Cup. Despite having a good start to the World Cup campaign, Das couldn’t continue his good form and in the end had a tournament to forget.

In March 2020, Das scored an ODI century against Zimbabwe, and in the process became the first ever player to score a ton at Sylhet.

In the third ODI of the same series, Das struck a magnificent 176 of a mere 143 balls and made the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi player in ODI’s. He scored 311 runs in the tournament, and was the player of the series, jointly with Tamim Iqbal. 

A sweet timer of the ball, Liton Das deals with spin and pace really well. He is good on the backfoot and plays the cover drive really well. He is also a neat wicket-keeper and possesses all the skills to succeed at the international level, provided he works hard. 

(As of March 21)