On Wednesday, Bangladesh T20I captain Litton Kumar Das claimed he had long decided to back Shak Mahedi in Colombo since he loves to pick his team based on the pitch.
Mahedi’s 4 for 11 helped the foreigners beat Sri Lanka by eight wickets after replacing Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Bangladesh won their first series against Sri Lanka in their own backyard using all formats.
“We thought Mahedi would be ideal on the Colombo wicket given his skills. He still bowls well on other wickets. I predicted before viewing the schedule that whoever plays in Colombo will be Mahedi “Litton said reporters following their historic win.
“Mehidy isn’t a bad bowler or batsman either. I shall consider the surface as a team leader before selecting a team. He said he would always prefer Mahedi on a bowling-friendly surface.
“If it is batting-friendly, Miraz will come back into the team,” he said.
Bangladesh rallied in the second T20I after losing the Test and ODI series and an ugly opening loss. Litton said that win boosted team confidence and improved the dressing room environment.
We always try our hardest in the middle. Litton stated they train to provide 100% in the middle.
I think victory changes the team’s image. We won the second game by 83 runs, which is impressive. He indicated the team was confident of winning if we played well.
Litton, who had been struggling with the bat, had two notable T20I contributions in the second and third. I always thought I’d find form again.
“I always believed. I never lacked confidence in my 10 years at this level. I guess hunger contributed. My run scoring was poor for a while. I wanted to seize a chance. In the second T20I, it helped.
I can work hard. Hotel room, no sitting. I attend training. Players must keep trying. You also require divine favour. The second T20I was lucky for me. But I keep trying hard on and off the field.
“I generally worked alone. Some folks assisted me. He added that it can inspire.
Having now led Bangladesh to successive T20I series wins in West Indies and Sri Lanka, Litton acknowledged that their upcoming series against Pakistan would be a tough challenge. He advised trusting their players.
Both series wins are crucial for me. In their backyard, beating West Indies is huge. They are a strong team in their conditions. It is the same in Sri Lanka. Their team is balanced.
“I don’t know how the Mirpur wicket is going to behave during the Pakistan series. I think it is raining in Dhaka every day, so the wicket can be difficult for batting in such conditions,” he said.
“It won’t be easy taking on Pakistan in Mirpur. They have variety in their bowling attack. They also play a lot of BPL, so they know our conditions quite well. I know that we can win matches against them if we play smart cricket,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Charith Asalanka admitted he misread the wicket in Colombo and opted to bat first, while crediting Mahedi for his outstanding bowling display.
“I misread the pitch a little, which is why I decided to bat first,” said Asalanka.
“I think credit goes to Bangladesh, especially their bowlers. Mahedi bowled really well, and they fielded exceptionally. They fought hard, and at the same time, we made too many mistakes. In T20s, you can’t afford that because it’s the fastest format. If we want to be a good team, we have to minimize our mistakes,” he said.
Asalanka added that Sri Lanka were also experimenting with the batting line-up, though he did not want to use that as an excuse.
“I can say a lot about this series, especially after this loss. The team that won the series played really well. As I’ve said before, we’re going to the World Cup, and we’re trying out different combinations. We won the T20 World Cup in 2024, but it was a big challenge for us, and we need to think carefully about our combinations,” he said.
“In the last World Cup, we didn’t have a strong middle order, so we’re still testing who fits best. Today, we tried Dinesh Chandimal at No. 4 and made some adjustments at No. 6, but we’re still looking for the right balance. There are some limitations we need to address quickly,” he said.
“No, that’s not what I meant (about using experimentation as an excuse). We still have to play to win every match while we experiment, and we will continue to do that,” he concluded.
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