We are incapable of ‘power hitting’: Liton
The primary formula for success in Twenty20 cricket is ‘power hitting’. Whoever can swing their willow the hardest and hit the ball the furthest has a better chance of becoming successful.
Bangladeshi cricketers have always struggled in this aspect of the game. Opener Liton Das feels if Bangladesh doesn’t find a way to fix their power hitting deficiency, they will have to pay a hefty price in the forthcoming ICC Twenty20 World Cup, which will take place in Australia.
On Thursday, Bangladesh lost the third T20I against West Indies by five wickets and lost the three-match series 0-2.
After the defeat, Liton said, “Some say T20 is a technique-dependent format, some call it a skill-based format. I feel that sometimes power hitting also becomes very necessary. We are lagging in this aspect. The grounds will be huge in the World Cup. That will trouble us.”
He also spelled out the solution, “If we can improve on this aspect by training a lot and playing a lot of games, then hopefully we can head into the World Cup with a lot of confidence.”
In the third T20I, West Indies chased down Bangladesh’s 163 runs with 10 balls to spare. Skipper Nicholas Pooran and opener Kyle Mayers won the match for West Indies. Liton praised them for their explosive batting and again talked about how the Bangladesh batters don’t have the ability to bat like them.
“West Indies deserve extra credit for the way they batted…. They played shots even on good deliveries. They have an added advantage that they play power cricket, which we can’t. I think this thing also plays on the minds of the bowlers that if they miss their mark even by a whisker, they will be punished for it.”
“They are very strong, much stronger than everyone in our team. They can hit a big six whenever they want, which I or none of us in our team can do. Most of the times, we only think about hitting fours. They hit more sixes. This difference has always been there. We are lagging behind good T20 teams by a lot. We need to work on many areas.”