Asia Cup 2023: Litton Das Likely To Miss Bangladesh Campaign Opener Due To Illness, Misses Sri Lanka Flight

The Bangla Tigers will start their campaign by playing against the defending champions  Sri Lanka on August 31 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.

Bangladesh star batter Litton Das will not be a part of the Bangladesh squad which will be traveling to  Sri Lanka for the upcoming 2023 Asia Cup as he is ill. The 2023 edition of the Asia Cup will be conducted in a hybrid model from August 30 to September 17. The Bangla Tigers will start their campaign by playing against the defending champions  Sri Lanka on August 31 at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy. Bangladesh will then take on Afghanistan on September 3 in their final group-stage game at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Bangladesh will leave Dhaka on Sunday and they have added  Tanzim Hasan Sakib to the squad as a replacement for injured Ebadot Hossain who is also set to miss the flight. He will be flying to the host nation later once his ticket is confirmed. Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) Cricket Operations Committee chairman Jalal Younus has confirmed the unavailability of Litton on Sunday. The Bangladesh batter is likely to miss out on playing in the first match against Sri Lanka since he missed the flight to the island nation.

"Litton is suffering from fever. He tested negative for Dengue. So if he recovers early, he will take the next flight to Sri Lanka. But if he does not recover, then we may have to think about a replacement," Jalal told The Daily Star.

Debashis Chowdhury who is the board’s chief physician stated that the wicketkeeper’s illness is not that serious and he will join the team soon.

“Litton is suffering from a fever. But it’s not anything serious. All the test results are positive. He will join the team when he recovers,” Debashis said.

Bangladesh's talented pacer Taskin Ahmed is hopeful that his team will qualify for the final of the Asia Cup.

“Our main target is to play the final of the Asia Cup. It will be a big collective achievement if we can play the final of the Asia Cup. We of course want to become champions. The main thing is that we have to play good cricket. We also have the World Cup coming up. If all of us play to the best of our abilities, we have a good chance of becoming champions. Please pray for us, so that all of us can play our best cricket,” Taskin was quoted as saying by Prothom Alo.