Bijoy to play in Asia Cup as Liton’s replacement

Bangladesh opener Liton Das has been ruled out of the ACC Asia Cup 2023 and Anamul Haque Bijoy will be replacing him in the Tigers’ squad for the tournament.

Liton could not travel to Sri Lanka last Sunday with the Bangladesh squad for the continental championship due to viral fever. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) waited on the wicketkeeper-batter for a couple of days to see if he would recover in time for the six-nation tournament, beginning today with the game between Pakistan and Nepal in Multan.

Minhajul Abedin, Chairman of BCB’s National Selection Panel, shared insights into the thought process behind Anamul’s selection. “He (Anamul) has been in the runs in domestic cricket, and we have continued to monitor him in the Bangladesh Tigers programme. He was always in our consideration,” Minhajul remarked.

Minhajul went on to explain, “Due to Litton’s unavailability, we needed a top-order batter who could keep wicket, and Anamul got the nod.”

Bijoy, who has played 44 ODIs and scored 1254 runs which include three hundreds, made his last ODI appearance for Bangladesh in December last year against India. He is due to arrive in Sri Lanka to join the Bangladesh team later today.

Bijoy, however, was not part of the Tigers’ preliminary Asia Cup camp.

Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka on August 31 in their opening Asia Cup match in Kandy. Following that, they will travel to Pakistan to play their second Asia Cup match against Afghanistan.

Bangladesh squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mahedi Hasan, Mohammad Naim, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Anamul Haque Bijoy