Bangladesh may have made history on their return to Australia, but Litton Das will have little to remember fondly from the two-Test tour. The wicketkeeper-batter endured a miserable campaign with the bat, recording three consecutive ducks and falling to Mitchell Starc on each occasion.
Bangladesh began the tour in remarkable fashion. After a 23-year wait to play a Test in Australia, they stunned the hosts in Darwin, securing a commanding nine-wicket victory in the opening match. The result was a significant achievement for Bangladesh, particularly given the difficulty of winning Test matches in unfamiliar conditions against a strong Australian side.
The second and final Test, however, brought a sharp reversal of fortunes. Bangladesh were beaten by an innings and 51 runs inside two days, allowing Australia to end the series on a dominant note. Despite that heavy defeat, Bangladesh leave the tour with the historic first-Test victory as a major achievement.
For Litton, though, the series was a very different story.
The 31-year-old batter had entered the tour under a cloud of uncertainty after suffering a calf-muscle injury. He was initially left out of Bangladesh’s squad for the first Test because of the injury. His recovery then progressed quickly enough for him to return to the squad, giving the team management hope that one of their most experienced Test batters could play an important role.
Those expectations were understandable. Litton has long been regarded as one of Bangladesh’s key batting figures across formats, particularly when the Test side finds itself under pressure. His ability to build an innings and counterattack has often made him an important part of the team’s middle order.
In Australia, however, he could not produce the contribution Bangladesh had hoped for.
Across three innings in the two-Test series, Litton failed to score a single run. His sequence read simply: 0, 0 and 0. More remarkably, all three dismissals came at the hands of the same bowler — Australia’s left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc.
That made the episode particularly painful for Litton. Starc’s pace, bounce and movement can pose a formidable challenge to any batter, and the Australian quick repeatedly found a way past the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter. Being dismissed by the same bowler in each of three innings compounded what was already an extremely difficult series.
Litton’s problems were made more conspicuous by Bangladesh’s contrasting fortunes as a team. While the visitors produced one of the most notable results in their recent Test history by defeating Australia in Darwin, one of their principal batting resources failed to contribute with the bat. The second Test then exposed Bangladesh’s wider batting struggles as they were bowled out cheaply and suffered a heavy defeat.
The circumstances surrounding Litton’s return also add context to his disappointing figures. He had only recently recovered from injury and was thrust into a demanding Test assignment against Australia’s pace attack. That does not change the numbers, but it underlines the difficulty of the challenge he faced.
A single poor series does not define an established international batter. Litton will now be looking to put the Australian disappointment behind him and rediscover the form that has made him an important member of Bangladesh’s Test side.
For Bangladesh, the tour will ultimately be remembered for the historic victory in Darwin. For Litton, however, the defining statistic will be far less flattering: three innings, three ducks and three dismissals by Mitchell Starc.
