Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das ruled out of Asia Cup due to illness

Dhaka: Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das was on Wednesday ruled out of the entire duration of the Asia Cup cricket tournament due to illness, dealing a blow to the side ahead of their campaign opener against hosts Sri Lanka in Pallekele.

Das could not recover from a viral fever, and he did not travel to Sri Lanka which Bangladesh faced in their opening match on Thursday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has named 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter Anamul Haque Bijoy as Das' replacement.

Bijoy will join the squad in Sri Lanka later on Wednesday.

"Bangladesh opening batsman Litton Kumer Das, who could not travel to Sri Lanka with the Asia Cup squad due to viral fever, has been ruled out of the tournament as he has not recovered from the illness," the BCB said in a statement.

"The National Selection Panel of BCB has named 30-year-old fellow right-hander Anamul Haque Bijoy as Litton’s replacement." Anamul Haque has played 44 ODIs and has scored 1254 runs which include three hundreds. His last ODI appearance for Bangladesh was in December 2022 against India.

BCB's National Selection Panel Chairman Minhajul Abedin said: “He (Anamul) has been in the runs in domestic cricket and we have continued to monitor him in the Bangladesh Tigers programme. He was always in our consideration.

“Due to Litton’s unavailability, we needed a top-order batter who could keep wicket and Anamul got the nod.” Bangladesh Squad: Shakib Al Hasan (Captain), Najmul Hossain Shanto, Tawhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim, Afif Hossain Dhrubo, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Shak Mahedi Hasan, Naim Sheikh, Shamim Hossain, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Anamul Haque Bijoy.