Liton's battle against nerves, pressure
Five things you need to know about the 24-year-old and his unbeaten innings of 94 against West Indies
After the West Indies match, Liton said he had been quite nervous as he walked past the dismissed Mushfiqur Rahim in the 19th over. It was only after he reached the thirties, with an inside-out loft over covers, that he felt completely at ease at the crease. He sped off from that point, adding a further 62 runs off just 38 balls.
Normally a top-order batsman, the match against West Indies was the first time Liton walked out to bat at No. 5 in an ODI, and he admitted to feeling a lot of pressure while batting out of position. In this match, he replaced Mohammad Mithun, who had had a bad outing against England. With Shakib playing at No. 3 these days, the only slot left for Liton was No. 5.
Following his superb 121 against India in the Asia Cup final last year, Liton averaged only 19 in the following nine ODIs against Zimbabwe, West Indies and New Zealand. His string of 1, 1, and 1 in New Zealand handed Soumya Sarkar the opening spot alongside Tamim Iqbal, but, since Liton was always seen as a far more aggressive option to Imrul Kayes, he kept his place in the World Cup squad.
When he had made 1881 runs in the 2014-15 domestic season, Liton was a considered shoo-in for the No. 3 role in the home internationals against India, Pakistan and South Africa. However, despite many in the senior team brushing off questions about his place in the side, Liton was dropped for nearly two years.
Liton is a Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan (BKSP) graduate like Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Nasir Hossain, among others. It is Bangladesh's top sports institution situated 40km from Dhaka. Liton is originally from Dinajpur, some 335km from Dhaka on the northern tip of the country. He doesn't hail from a cricketing background but his interest prompted his father to send him to BKSP, considered a hub of sporting excellence in Bangladesh.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84