Pothas says Litton ‘one innings away’ from having an unbelievable World Cup

Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas said opening batter Litton Das adds a lot of value to the side and is "one innings away" from a wonderful T20 World Cup.

Litton was dropped from the ODI squad after his indifferent "white-ball form", according to chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain and now he has failed to redeem himself against Zimbabwe as well.

After a failure in the first T20I, Litton got off to a superb start on Sunday but a mid-innings slowdown saw his strike-rate fall below 100. In the end, the right-hander was dismissed for 23 off 25.

When asked about his struggles with the bat, Pothas told reporters, "I think that's your perception. But Litton Das has so much to offer us. Litton Das is a world class cricketer. He's one innings away from having an unbelievable World Cup."

"There's no doubt that Liton Das is going to score a lot of runs as he has done in the past. But he adds so much value to our side. What he does in the field for us, what he offers to our group as a senior player, he does so much more than what you see."

There has been a fair amount of talk about the strike-rate of Najmul Hossain Shanto which is very low (111) by any standards in T20Is. But Pothas said the strike-rate is "immaterial" because if Shanto bats through, it will go up.

"Yeah, I think there is a discussion around his role. But also his strike rate is immaterial because if he goes through, that strike rate then goes through the roof. So, it's probably a case of when he gets to that point, kicking on, because if he kicks on, that strike rate goes through the roof, but that'll come," he stated.