Litton’s glittering return also owed to a ball boy

Leaving behind a nightmarish and agonising chapter, Liton Kumar Das has returned to scoring runs. The wicketkeeper-batsman for Dhaka Capitals dazzled in a match against Durbar Rajshahi with an incredible batting display.

After scoring a brilliant 73 in the previous game of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Liton sent his drought of runs on holiday with a century—the first of his T20 career. Upon this resurgent return, Liton expressed his gratitude but warned against making a coach out of the person he credited.

For a long stretch, Liton was unable to score in the national team—his bat failing him across all formats. Even in the ongoing BPL, he was stuck in a cycle of failures and was dropped from the playing XI in one match. In his first four matches for Dhaka Capitals, he managed just 42 runs.

Although he returned to form in the fifth match, he subsequently received the news of being dropped from Bangladesh's Champions Trophy squad. On that very day, however, his bat turned into a sword, carving an unbeaten innings of 125 runs off 55 balls at the Sylhet International Stadium, adorned with 10 fours and nine sixes.

Sharing the story of his return to runs at the press conference, Liton credited his wife, Sanchita Das, and mentioned the advice of Shaheen, the ball boy of Dhaka Capitals.

It wasn't just advice—Shaheen's encouragement during Liton's rough patch helped him rediscover himself. The Dhaka Capitals' ball boy had worked for the last three to four years with the Comilla Victorians, a team not participating in this year's tournament.

Over the last three BPL editions, Shaheen stayed close to Liton as part of the Comilla camp, observing his training and playing style. Thanks to this long-standing relationship, Shaheen not only offered courage but also took a brave step in sharing some advice with a player he admires.

At the press conference, Liton uttered Shaheen's name with respect but cautioned the media not to exaggerate the narrative. "Everyone's wife supports them, and I've never lacked that in my life," Liton said. "As for Shaheen, he works with us as a helping hand in the team. He had been with Comilla for three or four years. He observes my playing as well. It's not as if a ball boy can't understand the game."

"Even regular coaches, who conduct training, can provide small but crucial bits of information," Liton continued. "I think he is capable enough to identify where a batsman is making mistakes. But don't make headlines suggesting he's turned into a coach. I'm saying this practically—when someone spends so much time at training, they notice little details. I've practised with him for the past few days, and he's helped me a lot."

Inspired by Shaheen's words, Liton realised that minor adjustments could improve his performance. "His observations made me think that changes would help me," said Liton. "That's all there is to it. For this, I thanked him.

Anyone—coach or not—can help. If I find their suggestions worth adopting, I take them. These last few days weren't going well for my innings, and he supported me. He assured me, 'This is nothing, just continue your regular practice, identify the issues, and you'll be fine.'"

Liton seemed to have forgotten how to score runs. Over his last seven ODIs, the right-hander failed to reach double digits, getting out without scoring in three innings. His scores in these matches were 6, 1*, 0, 0, 2, 4, and 0. His last ODI half-century was over 15 months and 13 innings ago—66 runs against India in the 2023 ODI World Cup. It wasn't just ODIs—his struggles extended to T20 and Test cricket as well.

In the T20 series against the West Indies, he managed just 17 runs, with scores of 0, 3, and 14. Although he scored sporadically in Tests, the runs were not significant enough. Across 10 innings against India, South Africa, and the West Indies, Liton failed to register a half-century, with his highest score being 40.

Breaking free from the drought, Liton marked his return in remarkable fashion, hammering boundaries and sixes on his way to a century and scripting a story of redemption in bold and vibrant strokes.