Liton can be a destroyer in World Cup: Mashrafe

Dhaka – Liton Das has probably received the best compliment before heading for the World Cup which is scheduled to be played from May 30 in England and Wales. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the ODI captain of Bangladesh, on Tuesday said Liton Das can a party destroyer for the opponents of the Tigers in the World Cup.

Liton displayed a superb knock in the final of last Asia Cup in the UAE against India. Bangladesh lost the match in the end, but the right-handed top-order batsman proved his worth in the bigger stage of the game.

“We may have witnessed the quality of Liton during some matches in recent past. I can cite the Asia Cup final where he hit a ton. I think he can be a destroyer in the World Cup. He has that capability. Our batting coach has been working with him for a long time now. The most important thing is consistency. If he can play his natural game, it’ll be a big advantage for us in the World Cup,” Mashrafe said after signing an agreement with Lafz, a new alcohol-free perfume in the market, at a hotel in Dhaka.

Liton has played a total of 27 ODIs so far and scored 508 runs at an average of 19.53 with one century and one fifty. He is one of the best players in List-A cricket in Bangladesh. But he is yet to prove his consistency at the international level.

However, the Bangladesh captain believes the performance at the domestic level is not the main criterion to get selected in the national team for the World Cup.

According to him, a player may disappoint fans in the condition of England in spite of splendid show at the domestic arena. “I am not a fan of selecting a player for the national team by his performance in the Dhaka League because I saw some players who did well in Dhaka League for years but failed at the international level. The standard of the Dhaka League is not like what we get in international cricket,” Mashrafe further said.

“I think the mentality is the most important thing to perform well in a bigger stage like the World Cup,” the Bangladesh captain also added.

He said he is concerned about finishing the game properly. In the recent past, Bangladesh lost a remarkable amount of matches for lack of good finishers at the end of the batting line.

“It’s a big concern for us. We just can’t blame the junior members of the team. We’re failing at the end as a whole. We’ve lost many close matches during the last two or three years just for our inability to finish accurately. We hope it’ll be sorted out by the time,” Mashrfe also told the reporters.UNB