Tanzid Hasan Tamim hit an unbeaten fifty in his Twenty20 International debut on Friday and it increased further pressure on Liton Das as the batter is going through a lean patch of form.
Tanzid, who only got into the XI as Soumya Sarkar is still recovering from an injury, scored an unbeaten 67 off 47 balls to guide Bangladesh to an eight-wicket win, although he was reprieved thrice by the Zimbabwean fielders.
However, once set, Tanzid showed his full range of shots, hitting eight fours and two sixes, and put up his bid for a place in the Bangladesh starting XI at the World Cup.
When Soumya recovers, he is likely to open the innings for the Tigers as he also brings something to the table with the ball in hand, and that leaves Liton’s place in jeopardy.
Liton, who was once again dismissed to an inswinger for just one in the first T20I, had been Bangladesh’s best T20 batter in the past two years but this year, he has failed to manage anything worthwhile.
In 2022, the right-handed batter scored 544 runs in 19 innings with a strike rate of 140.20 averaging 28.63, while in 2023, he scored 323 runs in nine innings averaging 40.37 with a strike rate of 137.44.
However, this year, his form has dipped as in four outings, Liton has only managed 44 runs with a strike rate of 107.31.
Liton has been under pressure in the past months as he was dropped from the Bangladesh XI in their third one-day international against Sri Lanka in March, with chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu citing his poor white-ball form as the reason.
The comment had a strong base in terms of Liton’s ODI form but in the case of T20Is, there was almost no case as Liton had been Bangladesh’s constant source of runs at the top in the shortest format.
Nonetheless, the statement added further pressure on an already underperforming Liton, and on Friday, the batter once again looked out of touch as his dismissal did not meet his level – the batter, flummoxed by an incoming delivery, leaving a huge gap between his bat and pad for the ball to sneak in while trying to play down the ground.
While Tanzid has made a case for himself in the first game and is likely to play the next two as well, the pressure is now on Liton to perform in the next two games as Soumya might be ready by the fourth game, and if not, then both will have four games to make a claim for a starting spot in the T20 World Cup.
Bangladesh’s inclination towards a left-right combination might save Liton for the time being but if he doesn’t perform in the next few games, his place in the XI at the T20 World Cup might be at risk, and Liton needs to get some runs to turn that risk into reward.