Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons acknowledged that T20I captain Litton Das is currently short on confidence, and the team is making an effort to help Litton Das regain his form ahead of the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Sunday, July 13. Sri Lanka currently have a lead in the three-match series with 1-0, having won the opening encounter comfortably by a seven-wicket margin.
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 Das, Bangladesh lost the last two T20I series against UAE and Pakistan. Litton Das’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 Das was training with the T20I side.
Litton Das has been going through a rough patch, failing to score a half-century in his last 17 international innings across both ODIs and T20Is. His last fifty in limited-overs cricket came back in June 2024. He was dropped from the ODI XI after a first-ball duck in the opening match of that series, and could only manage six runs in the first T20I.
With the burden of T20I captaincy now on his shoulders, Litton Das finds himself under increasing pressure. In the ODI series opener against Sri Lanka, Litton Das was dismissed for a duck and didn’t get a chance in the remaining two matches.
His return to the T20I format hasn’t been much brighter. In the first match of the series, he managed just 6 runs off 11 deliveries. His previous two T20I innings before that yielded only 22 and 6 runs respectively. As the team continues to lose and the captain’s form remains poor, pressure continues to mount.
In the first T20I, Bangladesh had a promising start with 54 runs in the powerplay but ultimately finished at 154. In reply, Sri Lanka powered to 83 runs in just six overs, though they needed until the 19th over to complete the chase.Ahead of the second T20I, Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons addressed the media in Dambulla and supported skipper Litton Das in his poor form.
I think Litton Das’ confidence is a bit low- Phil Simmons
Bangladesh head coach Phil Simmons acknowledged that T20I captain Litton Kumar Das is currently short on confidence, and the team is making an effort to help him regain his form ahead of the second T20I against Sri Lanka in Dambulla on Sunday, July 13. Sri Lanka currently have a lead in the three-match series with 1-0, having won the opening encounter comfortably by a seven-wicket margin.
“I think his confidence is a bit low. We know what he can produce. We are working hard to get him to that stage. Hopefully he can get there in the next match,” Simmons said ahead of the upcoming clash, as quoted by Cricbuzz.
Simmons stated that a final decision on Jaker Ali, who missed the first T20I due to a quad injury, would be made closer to the second match. Although Jaker was reportedly keen to play and could have featured in the XI had he been cleared to keep wickets, the team management opted not to take that risk. He also defended the decision to go with four openers in the first match, suggesting it was a strategic move based on team needs and conditions.
“Jaker got injured before the third ODI. We are going to see how he is tonight, and make a decision on his position tomorrow. We will see what’s happening here tonight. We will see the wicket and make the decision, whether we want to go with the same team or change up things,” the former cricketer further added.
“People have to look at what’s happening. Jaker was injured, so who else are we going to play there? One of the bowlers? People have to be realistic. We had to play a batter (in Jaker’s place). Adaptation is a big thing in this format. Players have to adapt. In this format, openers sometimes play at number five or six. T
he next plan is to do better at the stuff that we weren’t good enough at in the last game. We have to get more runs and bowl better in the first six (overs). We need to improve with certain things at certain levels to be competitive with them. That’s what we are looking to do,” he added.
The teams will now head from Pallekele to the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium in Dambulla for the second of three T20Is to be played on Sunday, the 13th of July. The hosts, Sri Lanka, will look to seal the series there and take an unassailable 2-0 lead with a game to spare while the visitors will hope to draw level and set up a decider at Colombo later on.
So, will Sri Lanka seal the deal in Dambulla or will we go 1-1 into the final match of the series in Colombo? Only time will tell as we wait for Sunday night to arrive.
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