We know the weaknesses and strengths of Pakistan: Liton Das

Dhaka, 19 July  - Bangladesh captain Liton Das insisted that they are not concerned about Pakistan players' knowledge on the condition of Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium due to their experience of playing in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on regular basis. 

As many as nine players of Pakistan have the experience of playing BPL in the last season and also some of them played in Dhaka Premier League (DPL) in the past.

Liton said while Pakistan players knew adequately about Mirpur condition, they also know the weakness and strength of Pakistan due to sharing the dressing room with them during BPL and DPL.

"The fun of franchise cricket is that you have the opportunity to play with all the cricketers in the world, you have the opportunity to make friends," Liton said while addressing the media during pre-match conference here today.
 
"If you only stuck in the national team, then you will not know about the outside cricketers, you will not be able to share the dressing room." The three-match T20 series opening game between the two sides will be held Sunday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Miprur.

Liton believes that experience in franchise cricket will be useful for both teams, "It will be useful from both sides. Just as they know our strengths and weaknesses, we also know their strengths and weaknesses."

"So I don't think there will be much of a problem. But parity is a very good thing."

Bangladesh will play all its matches against Pakistan in Mirpur. The topic of the pitch in Mirpur also came to the fore because it is hard to predict how it will behave. 

The series against Australia and New Zealand before the 2021 T20 World Cup was a real death trap for batters.

Taking the advantage of the pitch, Bangladesh outclassed Australia by 4-1 and beat New Zealand by 3-2.

But the series victory mattered little for Bangladesh, as the batters faced serious problem when they play in other part of the world.
 
Several cricketers then said that Mirpur wicket almost ruined their batting skill.
 
However, when asked if the career achievements of many batters have gone down after playing those two series, Liton said, "I also agree. (After playing the 2021 New Zealand-Australia series) the careers of many cricketers have gone 
down as batter. If I were a bowler, may be my career would have been rich."

Later, however, Liton clarified that he was specifically talking about those two series. 

He is the third highest run-getter among Bangladesh batters in T20Is at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium. He has scored 510 runs at a strike rate of over 130 in 18 matches.
 
Mahmudullah, who is above him, has scored 804 runs at a strike rate of 119.11 in 39 matches. And Shakib Al Hasan has scored 547 runs in 34 matches at a strike rate of 101 in Mirpur.

Liton also said that it is not always the case that batters have problems, "It is not that batters always have problems. Let me make it clear, batters have had a little problem in certain two series."

When asked if he does anything extra to adapt to Mirpur, Liton said: "I have been playing like this for 10 years. How many times I would have to set myself?"

"I cannot perform consistently, yes that's a problem. I am always trying to 
score runs consistently. I always try to practice consistently and will try to do it in future too."BSS