Litton: We can lose, Bangladesh has lost to many teams before

Sports Desk
Bangladesh T20 International captain Liton Das says he is not worried about what might happen if his team falls behind in the upcoming three-match series against the Netherlands so close to the Asia Cup. He claims that the style of play of the team is more important to him than the result.

Bangladesh’s recent record against partner nations in T20Is has not been great. They lost 2-1 to the United States in May last year and lost a series to the United Arab Emirates by the same margin this year.

The Tigers have a good record against the Netherlands in T20Is, winning four of their five matches. Their only loss came in a bilateral series in Voorburg, Netherlands, in 2012.

Still, a defeat to a partner team so close to the Asia Cup, which starts on September 9, could set the players back mentally.
However, captain Liton did not give much importance to the possible consequences of the defeat.

“First of all, there are no small teams in international cricket. We always play to win and in the future, we will play to win in all the matches we play,” Liton told the media in Sylhet today.

“Don’t risk it… Bangladesh has lost to many teams before, it’s nothing new. Even if we lose, we can still lose. Both teams have come to play, one team will win, one team will lose. But how well we can play cricket, that’s the main thing.”

The Bangladesh captain also feels that the conditions in Sylhet will be good preparation for the upcoming eight-team tournament in the United Arab Emirates.

“The teams will be different in the Asia Cup. We won’t be able to bring those teams here. But I think the conditions will be very similar. The wickets in Abu Dhabi are batting-friendly. The wickets in Sylhet are also generally batting-friendly. There will be a similarity in that regard.”

The first match of the series will be played at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The next two matches of the series will be held on September 1 and 3 respectively.