Litton’s 100th ODI: Returning to the Roots in Mirpur
Litton to play his 100th match in the second ODI against New Zealand at Mirpur. Photo: Collected
Litton Das made his international debut at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur back in 2015 against India. Now, nearly 11 years later, he is set to return to the same venue tomorrow to play his 100th ODI in the second match of the series against New Zealand. As he approaches this significant milestone, the question remains: can the struggling batter find his form on such a momentous occasion?
Thirteen Bangladeshi cricketers have previously touched the milestone of 100 ODIs, with Mohammad Ashraful being the first to attain so. Litton is now poised to become the 14th player to join this elite list.
The players who reached this landmark before him include Mushfiqur Rahim (274 matches), Shakib Al Hasan (247), Tamim Iqbal (243), Mahmudullah Riyad (239), Mashrafe Bin Mortaza (218), Mohammad Ashraful (175), Abdur Razzak (153), Khaled Mashud (126), Mohammad Rafique (123), Mustafizur Rahman (119), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (118), Habibul Bashar (111), and Rubel Hossain (104).
Furthermore, Litton will become only the fifth Bangladeshi player to play 100 matches in two different white-ball formats, joining Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah, Shakib, and Mustafizur. Litton has already crossed the 100-match mark in T20 Internationals.
However, the milestone comes at a time of personal struggle. Litton has gone 18 consecutive ODI innings without a half-century. His last fifty was a 66-run knock against India in the 2023 World Cup. Since then, he has failed to reach the 50-run mark, and in nine of those innings, he failed to even reach double digits. Over these 18 innings, he has managed only 295 runs at an average of 18.43 and a strike rate of 71.42.
Across his 99-match ODI career, Litton has scored 2,700 runs in 98 innings, including five centuries and 12 half-centuries. He holds a career average of 30.33 and a strike rate of 85.76. His career-best score of 176 came against Zimbabwe, though he has also been dismissed for a duck 16 times. Behind the stumps, he has recorded 68 catches and 5 stumpings.
History shows that Litton’s 100th T20I against Pakistan in Lahore in 2025 was a disappointment, as he scored only 6 runs in a losing effort for Bangladesh. Fans are now waiting to see if he can turn the tide and make his 100th ODI a memorable one.
