I'm chill, says Litton

Bangladesh men’s cricket team ODI captain Tamim Iqbal suddenly announced his retirement on Thursday. Litton Kumer Das has been given the responsibility of captaincy for the two remaining ODIs against Afghanistan. He was also present at the press conference on Friday ahead of the second ODI. Litton must know what sort of questions he may face on such a day. He must have come prepared to answer those questions.

Tamim’s decision to retire came as a surprise for his teammates as well. This was clear in Litton’s words, “I came to know about it at around one in the afternoon. I played for a long time with him but none of us could realise such a decision was ahead. But it is completely my big brother’s  (Tamim) decision. He has been playing so long for Bangladesh, he has made huge contribution."

The acting captain believes Tamim’s decision should be honoured, “Let us all honour the decision he has taken. We all should do it. Everyone has a personal plan.”

But as Tamim has retired, Litton does not want to look back. When asked whether he will miss Tamim, Litton said it is only normal for cricketers to retire. “I am here today. If I get injured tomorrow Bangladesh will not miss me, that is natural. New cricketers will arrive as we move forward. They will come, we will go. This will continue. Definitely, if he had been here, it would have been better. Or maybe not. As he is not with us now, I think we need not talk about it."

Replying to the question of whether Tamim’s retirement will have a negative impact upon the team, Litton said, "No. He was there in the previous match but won't be in the next match. Somehow if that wasn't the case and instead he had an injury, we would have played an alternative team. So I don't think any change like that would come and things will stay the same."

The official announcement of Litton captaining the side with the absence of Tamim for the remaining two games against Afghanistan came on Friday morning. Litton got the sudden extra responsibility of captaincy, moreover Bangladesh has lost the first match of the series and he also has to play a crucial role as one of the most important batters in the side. But Litton blew away all the extra pressure with a smile, “No brother, I'm chilled (smile)."

Litton led the Bangladesh side in the absence of regular captains several times and also clinched success. He is determined to do well this time as well. "Being captain of Bangladesh is something to be proud of. When I captained before, I tried to do my best and won matches for Bangladesh. There will be no exception this time, I shall try to do even better”.