'No substitute for performance'

Will Liton Das be able to seize his opportunity and solve a long-standing problem?

The answer was very simple and straightforward to the right-hander -- only good performances will make him Tamim Iqbal's permanent opening partner. The 23-year-old batsman has already provided evidence about his ability and his stroke-making prowess allied with good defence has been cause for optimism. The question now is whether he can learn the craft of transforming good starts to big knocks.

"It's actually a good opportunity. I have been out of the one-day team for long, so I will try my best to do well if I get a chance," said Liton, who played his last ODI in South Africa in October last year, while talking to reporters at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.

Liton was well aware of the challenge in front of him, but knew that he would need to grab this opportunity. "Now there is nothing better than the performance. You want runs and I also want runs," said Liton.

"Those who are big cricketers can prolong their innings if they get the start. I still cannot be bracketed with the big cricketers, which is why I could not play the big knocks but I am trying my best to make something big happen," he added.

Liton said that he loves his style of batting as an attacking batsman and wants to establish himself with his natural characteristics.

"I am now working on perfection in all shots. It will not be enough for you only to stay at the middle; you also have to score runs, but the shot selection is important and I am working on it," he said.

He was not thinking about a permanent place but instead focusing on the challenges in the Asia Cup, especially looking forward to the group matches against Sri Lanka and Afghanistan.

Liton also opined that the experience of playing the quick bowlers in South Africa and West Indies will make it easier to handle pacers in the Asia Cup and that he was also not worried about the leg-spin of Afghanistan's Rashid Khan because the 50-over format suits the Tigers most.