IPL 2023: Can Litton Das shine in limited time for the Knights?

There is a lot of curiosity value if Litton Das, the star wicketkeeper-batsman from neighbouring Bangladesh, can make it to the playing XI for Kolkata Knight Riders against Sunrisers Hyderabad at home on Friday.

Das, who has captained the Tigers occasionally in both formats of the white ball game, is a delightful striker of the cricket ball. Having landed in the city after a T20 series at home against Ireland, he got down to business at the CC&FC ground on Tuesday and looked in fine fettle while batting.

The KKR management, after having suffered due to a shortage of quality openers and wicketkeeper last season, signed up Das and seasoned allrounder Shakib Al Hasan in the mini auction last December. However, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) released Litton on a ‘restricted availability’ from April 8 to May 1, which leaves only a five-match window for the opener.

Shakib, who was a member of the KKR’s championship winning sides both on 2012 and 2014, however pulled out at the eleventh hour citing international commitments and ‘personal issues’ to attend to. The Tigers will be travelling to Ireland to play three ODIs on May 9, 12 and 14.

While it’s ultimately the call of the respective boards to release their players, there is a feeling among the followers of the league that this could have been an opportunity missed for Litton – as his name was being aired to take over as the KKR captain in the absence of an injured Shreyas Iyer for the season.

It remains to be seen if KKR prefer to tinker with a winnng combination of Afghan warrior Ramanullah Gurbaz and Venkatesh Iyer at the top of the order on Friday, as only then it can open up a room for Litton as the overseas player.

There is a buzz around the Knights, who returned to their home city on Monday evening after the heist against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad – thanks to that last-over blitz by Rinku Singh.

The cricket fraternity still cannot get over the five sixes on the trot by Rinku in that dramatic last ever, and his admirers include Bangladesh import Litton. ‘’I don’t think such a kind of innings has ever been played in any format. It’s an unbelievable effort to hit five sixes in the last over with that target in mind,’’ he told the local media.

Intriguingly enough, Litton is only the sixth player from the country to make the cut in IPL despite Bangladesh having several quality players in this format and running their own Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) for years. Apart from Shakib and Litton, the other players involved have been Mustafizur Rehman, Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe Mortaza and Abdur Razzaq.

However, barring Shakib and ‘Fizz,’ none got enough game time in the past to make their mark. Can Litton buck the trend this season?