Litton Das had a full-fledged practice session without any discomfort at DXC Arena, traditionally known as Marrara Cricket Ground, on Wednesday. Litton, who arrived earlier with the second batch of the touring party, had his first training session in Australia with his teammates.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board officials told Cricbuzz that they are keeping their finger crossed regarding Litton’s availability in the three-day practise match against Cricket Australia XI, at Darwin from August 6-8.
“It’s a great relief to see him completing the practice session without any complaint,” BCB chief selector Habibul Bashar told Cricbuzz on Wednesday. “We will make a final call regarding his participation in the practice game after seeing him in the morning.
The national selection panel earlier announced that Litton was unavailable for the opening Test but later added Litton to the Test squad for the two-match series against Australia. Litton, who had injured his left calf during the home ODI series against Australia in June,missed Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe in June and July but has recovered in time to make the trip to Australia.
Litton spent considerable time batting in the nets before going through wicketkeeping drills without showing any visible discomfort.
“There were no batting issues previously during the Zimbabwe series. His actual problem is the calf injury, which causes issues during quick turns and running,” said Habibul. “Lets hope for the best.”
For Litton, the practice match could prove especially valuable. Having missed competitive action due to injury, the experienced batter is expected to use the game to regain match rhythm if declared fit.
Bangladesh have been training at the Marrara Cricket Ground in Darwin since arriving in Australia, with the coaching staff placing particular emphasis on adjusting to the extra bounce and pace expected during the tour.
Pace bowler Hasan Mahmud stressed the importance of the practice game as he described it as a key part of Bangladesh’s preparations ahead of the two-match Test series.
“I think our practice match is very important for our preparation ahead of the Test, and it will help us a lot in adapting to the conditions and the pitch,” Hasan said after Wednesday’s training session.
.”We’ve had some very good training sessions. Today we worked on our fielding, batting and bowling. We still have several more tasks and training sessions ahead of us,” he said. “Hopefully, everyone will complete their preparations well and we’ll be able to make a good start.”
