‘Nervousness’ brings the best out of unhurried Liton
When it comes to talent, there were never any doubts about Liton Das, who was highly rated even before making his international debut in 2015. The questions surrounding him were always about consistency.
The stylish wicketkeeper-batsman has all the shots in the book in his arsenal and, more importantly, when Liton gets going, it is a tough prospect for any opponent as the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium witnessed yesterday.
His masterclass against Zimbabwe in the first ODI was one of those days when the right-hander showed how a composed approach could help him find success.
Liton smashed his second ODI hundred, which helped Bangladesh post their highest-ever total of 321 for six against Zimbabwe and eventually clinch a comprehensive 169-run win.
However, the right-hander had to retire hurt after having cramps during the 37th over for a magnificent 105-ball 126 that featured 13 fours and three sixes.
Liton was confident from the get-go and smote his first boundary with a cracking drive towards cover region to Chris Mpofu after Bangladesh had opted to bat.
The highlight of Liton's innings was the way he paced it, with a mixture of aggression and sensibility that was quite unlike him. The right-hander previously tended to throw away his wicket after getting set.
The 25-year-old, who batted at number five in the World Cup, returned to his actual position and opened the innings. His maiden hundred had come batting at opening slot, against India in the final of the Asia Cup in 2018.
Interestingly, Liton revealed that he was nervous before the start of the game and that helped him focus more yesterday.
"Many might not have noticed, but I have been nervous since last night [Saturday]. I haven't played the fifty-over format for a long time. I missed the Sri Lanka tour after the World Cup. I also knew that I was going to open the innings today (Sunday), which added more pressure to the back of my mind. I think that nervousness worked positively for me as long I was at the crease because I was more focused," said Liton yesterday.
When asked to compare his two centuries, the cricketer said that it required the same amount of focus to hit a ton against any opponent.
"Centuries are always right at the top for me. Yes, the first hundred was in the Asia Cup final, which was a big match. This game might not be as big as that, but it was big for me personally. If you think of a team effort, we could easily win against Zimbabwe. But that was not the case in the Asia Cup. But to score a hundred, I had to keep the same focus and I had to remain focused today as well," he said.
There has certainly been a change in Liton's personality over the past two years and the cricketer said that it was a change in mentality that had helped him develop his game.
"Now I know what I have to do to score a hundred in international cricket. I have to bat till the 30th over. It played in the back of my mind that I would not hurry and look for singles after reaching my fifty. I will also look to score boundaries if there is a bad ball and I was nervous at the start, but once I got set, I tried to bat till the 30th over."
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