Litton seeks improvement in death bowling

Litton Das, the Bangladesh T20I skipper, said on Monday that his team needs to improve its death over bowling as they prepare for the upcoming T20 World Cup, scheduled in India and Sri Lanka in early next year.

Under Litton's leadership, Bangladesh clinched back-to-back T20I series wins against Sri Lanka and Pakistan respectively. However, despite the success he has urged his bowling unit to improve in the death overs.

"We are bowling very well with the new ball, but we need to do well in the death overs. The team believes the same. Obviously, we have to bat well because when you are continuously batting well in good wickets, the bowlers have more chances to win the match," Litton said after clinching series against Pakistan on Friday.

"We all know how deadly Mustafizur can be in the death overs, but for the others this, it is the time to improve in this area ahead of the World Cup. If that happens, we will improve as a team.

Litton said that they need to continue with the rotation policy that is in place for the pace bowlers in order to minimize the chance of losing their premier pacers - Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam and Mustafizur Rahman - ahead of the global event.

"Taskin has returned to T20s after a long time. You probably all know that if he keeps playing continuously, the chances of injury are higher for him," said Litton.

"The same goes for Shoriful - he had a groin injury during the Pakistan series (at their own backyard) and then again in Kandy, and even in Dambulla he faced similar problems."

"It's not just that - you have to understand how many games a player can handle in a row. Apart from the ones you see now in the Bangladesh team, there are two or three more top pace bowlers. If we lose any of them for any reason, then the dreams and hopes we have won't be fulfilled. Every player deserves an opportunity, but at the same time, their fitness must be carefully monitored," he said.

Litton backed his middle-order to come good despite their inconsistent performances. However, he also added that they could look at other options in order to keep the backups ready.

"I believe that (Towhid) Hridoy, the way he bats, along with Jaker (Ali) and Shamim (Patowary), they are currently Bangladesh's best middle-order batters," he said. "At the same time, since our vision is related to the World Cup, if one of these three players gets injured, then we must have backups ready. So, this is always on our mind, and we will try to prepare someone accordingly."

Bangladeshi players are going for a break as the home series against India is rescheduled after non-stop cricket for over 40 days. Following their rest, they are expected to have a camp to prepare for the forthcoming Asia Cup.