Liton's 11 interesting facts

Bangladesh opener Liton Kumar Das shared some interesting facts about his batting, playing career and the game of cricket in a live session with DT Locker Room Tuesday night.

Here are some interesting facts about Liton:   

I used to play with tennis ball in Dinajpur. My big brother practiced under coach Abu Samad Mithu. I went there with my brother as I also wanted to play. That time U-13 camp for district level tournament was about to start. So my brother took me to the coaching center and introduced me to the coach. Later I joined practice and then I played in district level. That’s how it started.  

There is no idol at the moment. But I usually observe four-five batsmen around the world these days. And in my young age I followed Brendon McCullum and Mark Boucher as wicket-keeper. And from batting point of view I was a fan of Michael Clarke.  

Straight drive is my favorite shot. But I can’t play it well yet (smiles). But when I am able to play straight drive in any game, I feel so good.   

From three formats, I enjoy ODI format the most.

I usually used heavier bat early in my career, until 2016. Then [Chandika] Hathurusingha, former coach of Bangladesh, told me that less heavy bat will give me more time in batting, shot speed or shot selection will be better if I use light bat. Since then I use less heavy bat. Another Interesting thing is, when I do not score with a bat, then I reject it immediately. Whatever the quality of the bat, I always change the bat when I score don’t runs for two-three games.

When I first played domestic cricket, my jersey No was 02. And there was a reason behind this. The reason is, when I played my first game with cricket ball, I scored two runs. So I chose two as my jersey No. But when I get selected for Bangladesh Premier League team, jersey No 02 was occupied as Mashrafe [bin Mortaza) bhai wears that number. Then I asked my mother and she said wear whatever you want. Then I chose 19 for BPL. Later I again chose 02 as jersey number and in Abahani [Limited] I scored a lot of runs. But the thing is jersey No 02 was not available all the time as, whenever I played with Mashrafe bhai, in BPL or any other place, I had to change the number. Later I decided that since my birthday is on the 16th, so my jersey number will be 16. And that’s fixed now and I will hold on to it as long as I play cricket.   

From all the venues I have played so far, I think London is my favorite. Actually I liked all the venues in the United Kingdom.

Obviously my preferred batting position is to open the innings. I started my career and played my domestic career as an opener.

I enjoy batting with batsmen who generally rotate strike. But I also enjoy with Sourav bhai (Mominul Haque) as the conversations between us during the game give me some extra confidence.  That’s just my personal thought.

Soumya [Sarkar] bhai knows that (smiles). If he could bowl a bit more yorkers in that last over of the Nidahas Trophy final, then we could have won a trophy (smiles). Also final loss in the Asia Cup is a regret.  

Every player has a dream of winning the World Cup. I also have that dream, or at least winning a major ICC trophy as a player. And on a personal note, I want to finish my career in a way that, after retirement, ICC will remember my batting records or performances, just like they do for big players.