Anamul replaces Litton in Asia Cup

Litton Das has been ruled out of the Asia Cup due to illness and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has decided to replace him with Anamul Haque.

BCB announced this development in a press release on Wednesday. Anamul will join the team in Sri Lanka later this day (Wednesday).

Anamul has featured in 44 ODIs for the Tigers, where he scored 1254 runs at an average of 30.58 and at a strike rate of 74.15. Anamul has three centuries and five half-centuries to his name in the 50-over format.

The 30-year-old’s previous match for Bangladesh was during the ODI series against India at home last year. In that three-match series, he made 14, 11 and eight runs and was then axed from the team.

Anamul was the second highest run-getter in the previous edition of the List-A competition Dhaka Premier League (DPL). He made 834 runs for Abahani in 16 matches at an average of 59.57 and a strike rate of 97.31. He also scored three centuries that season.

Chief selector Minhajul Abedin said that the selection panel picked Anamul for his good form and his ability to keep wickets, “He (Anamul) was among the runs in domestic cricket and we had kept him under observation in the Bangladesh Tigers programme. In Litton’s absence, we required a top-order batsman who can also keep wickets. That’s why we are giving an opportunity to Anamul.”

The 16th edition of the Asia Cup is scheduled to begin today (Wednesday). Bangladesh will play its first match in the competition against Sri Lanka on Thursday in Pallekele against Sri Lanka. After that, the Shakib Al Hasan-led team will face Pakistan in Lahore on 3 September in their second and final group-stage match of the tournament.