Tigers’ tale of tantalising talent

Two consecutive boundaries from Liton Das to Moeen Ali in the first over of the Bangladesh innings provided hope to fans in the Tigers' second Super 12 game against England at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

The highly-rated right-hander once again showed his class with a gorgeous straight drive, coming down the track and meeting the pitch of the ball against the off-spinner and smacking it perfectly over the bowler's head.

The second boundary was even better as Liton adjusted nicely to a slightly wider delivery from Moeen and again used his feet to perfection to manufacture another magnificent inside-out shot over cover.

Those were glimpses of the talent that Liton possesses but he wasted yet another opportunity against the background noise calling for him to be dropped from the team ahead of the game against England following a string of poor performances with the bat.

Just when Liton needed to utilise his brilliant start, he was dismissed while attempting a rather loose shot. The right-hander top-edged Ali in his next over while going for a sweep and returned to the pavilion after scoring nine off eight balls.

The last time Liton scored a fifty in T20s for the Tigers was 13 innings ago. Scores of 9, 16, 29, 6, 5, 10, 6, and 15 in his last eight innings may not justify his talent, but that is how things have gone for the 27-year-old, who made his international debut six years ago.

That inability to convert those beautiful starts into big knocks and a penchant for consistently being inconsistent reminds one of a few other talents that Bangladesh cricket has seen in the past.

From Mohammad Ashraful and Nasir Hossain to Sabbir Rahman, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Soumya Sarkar, there is a similar trend of talented cricketers who have been unable to repay the faith that they have been shown.

Now the question is how long Bangladesh cricket will continue to give opportunities to such cricketers who show glimpses of their ability but are unable to perform consistently.

The team management will obviously back players as it is their job to instil confidence during tough times, but it is also important for a player like Liton to realise that being talented is not enough. It is imperative to showcase what you have when it matters most.

India's star batsman Rohit Sharma hates when he is termed a talented batsman because he believes talent is nothing without hard work and that must be reflected through performances, or else there is no point being talented.