Who is the better batsman in Tests, Joe Root or Liton Das?
At first glance this question seems absurd. Joe Root is part of the ‘Fab Four’ batsmen ruling the cricketing world for the better part of the last decade. The former English captain is just 111 runs away from entering the elite 10,000 Test runs club. His average is a shade below 50 and he has 25 centuries in cricket’s most regal format.
On the other hand, Liton is yet to accumulate 2,000 runs in Tests, averages 36.84 and has only three centuries to his name. In Bangladesh’s context, Liton Das has a decent record in Tests. But compared to Joe Root, it’s modest at best.
But this question becomes much more pertinent after a slight modification.
Who is the better batsman in Tests in the last 12 months, Joe Root or Liton Das?
Now, the stats show a different picture. In this period, Liton has played 15 Test innings, including the ongoing one against Sri Lanka. In it, the wicketkeeper-batsman has made 836 runs at an excellent average of 59.71.
During the same period, Root has come out to bat 27 times in a Test innings for England, scored 1272 runs at an average of 48.9.
So, according to the stats, in the last 12 months Liton has been more consistent than one of the best Test batsmen of the current generation. This stat is even more remarkable when you consider the initial part of Liton’s career, when the last word anyone would associate with the right-hander would be consistent.
Liton’s Test career can be broadly divided into two parts, before his half-century against Zimbabwe in the Dhaka Test in February 2020, and after it. Liton made 53 in the first and only innings of Bangladesh in that Test.
For Liton, that innings proved to be the beginning of his second coming. Before that innings, Liton didn’t have a half-century in Tests for 14 months. In the 19 Tests prior to the one against Zimbabwe in Dhaka, Liton had scored 806 runs at a poor average of 25.19.
Liton needed a good innings to snap out of the bad phase. The half-century against Zimbabwe proved to be exactly that. Since that Test, Liton’s average more than doubled and became 54.62. In the 14 Tests since, Liton has made 1147 runs, and scored all three of his Test centuries.
Liton, actually, has been the most consistent wicketkeeper-batsman in the world in the last two years. Liton has repaired the Bangladesh innings multiple times after a top-order collapse and alongside the likes of Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan and Yasir Hossain, has formed important partnerships.
Liton Das carried on his tremendous form into the first innings of the Dhaka Test against Sri Lanka on Monday, where he played one of the best innings of his Test career so far.
With the veteran Mushfiqur Rahim at the other end, Liton rescued the team from a precarious 24-5 to 277-5 at the end of the day’s play.
Liton and Mushfiq set some records along the way. Their 253-run stand is the biggest ever in the history of Test cricket after a team has lost five wickets before reaching 50 runs.
Liton’s second coming in Tests has been nothing less than a blessing for Bangladesh. Bangladesh now has a batsman who can consistently churn out runs batting at No. six or seven. But those who recognize the true potential of the 27-year-old, know that we are yet to see the absolute best of Liton Das.