Bangladesh have left Litton Das out of their squad for the Champions Trophy. The high-profile axing follows a string of low scores from the wicketkeeper-batter in ODIs: he has not made a half-century in his last 13 innings dating back to the 2023 ODI World Cup, and has been dismissed six times for single-digit scores in his last seven innings.
Shakib Al Hasan has also missed out on selection. This was along expected lines, with the allrounder having been suspended from bowling in top-flight cricket due to an illegal action; he recently failed a second independent assessment of his action. Shakib's exclusion from the Champions Trophy squad likely marks the end of his ODI career.
Other than Litton and Shakib, Bangladesh have also left out Afif Hossain, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud.
Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is among several returnees to the squad, alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy and Mustafizur Rahman. Shanto missed the West Indies tour in November last year due to a hamstring injury.
Bangladesh's chief selector Gazi Ashraf Hossain said of Litton's exclusion: "Litton is out of form. He is getting out in a similar pattern. He is unable to take advantage of the powerplay in the white-ball format. He is unable to last at the crease. He is getting exposed. Opposition analysts are getting too successful against Litton. We gave him chances but there isn't much trust left.
"We have considered Litton's past performances, especially his recent-past efforts. It became hard to be confident about Litton when he couldn't score runs in the West Indies where the rest of the batters got us to big totals. We will play on good batting wickets in Rawalpindi. New Zealand lost there despite scoring 336, so we have to take in-form top-order batters."
Ashraf said that they want Litton to take steps to work his way back into form. "Soumya [Sarkar] and [Tanzid Hasan] Tamim are most likely to open the innings, so Litton is unlikely to hold a place in the XI. There's no doubting his class though. I think we can get him out of his form crisis quite well. We have experts to work with him during this time."
Bangladesh squad for Champions Trophy
Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Towhid Hridoy, Soumya Sarkar, Tanzid Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Parvez Hossain, Nasum Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan, Nahid Rana.