Litton Das hopeful of coming out of batting slump

When Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 99 runs in the third ODI in Pallekele, it was Bangladesh's third consecutive ODI series defeat in the last nine months, bringing their underperforming batters under the microscope.

But with the T20I series starting on Thursday, there is little time for the Bangladesh batters to regroup. Moreover, the focus now shifts to their T20I captain Litton Das, a man who was dropped after the first ODI in Colombo, extending his nearly two-year-long slump in the format.

Under Litton, Bangladesh lost the last two T20I series against UAE and Pakistan. Litton's form is also a concern - he has scored 218 runs at an average of 18.16 in 12 T20Is since October. When the team was playing the third ODI in Pallekele, Litton was training with the T20I side.

"For me, every series and every match is important," Litton said. "Wherever I play, I try my best. That's all I can do. But sometimes, failures come, and the success rate hasn't been good. This is part of life. There are players who succeed in one year and struggle in the next. Understanding why that happens is important, and I hope to find out and overcome it.

"I didn't play good ODI cricket, and that's why I was on the bench. During that time [third ODI], I practised for T20Is, and I will try to use that preparation in the T20I series."

Through his performances in domestic cricket and T20Is, Litton also hopes to come back to the ODI side. "As a professional, I have to adjust, and I believe I do that well. They gave me opportunities in the ODI format, but I couldn't capitalise on it. Hopefully, I will play domestic cricket, score runs, and maybe they will call me again. I have been playing T20Is, and I hope I can make a comeback."

Shortly before Litton spoke in Pallekele, Bangladesh's chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said that they felt Litton had worked back into some batting form since he was dropped for the Champions Trophy earlier this year.

"We lost Shakib, Mahmudullah and Mushfiqur Rahim in quick succession, so we need time to fill the gap in the middle order," Ashraf said. "Litton had a bit of time to return to good form after the Champions Trophy. We also felt that since he did well in the Test series [against Sri Lanka], he could fit into the ODI middle-order, given our gap in experience. He has a bit of experience, so we designed the middle order with Litton in mind. We will definitely be questioned if the man we kept faith in didn't give us the due returns.

Ashraf said that the selection committee had picked Litton for the Sri Lanka ODIs for his experience.

"We picked him based on what we needed in the series. Performance is not always stat-based. Selectors' confidence is a factor.

"He has served Bangladesh cricket for ten years. He is one of our finest batters. He is having a really bad time. We want to take the responsibility of his selection, we picked him after consulting the team management."