Litton Das begins his full-term reign as Bangladesh ODI captain in Abu Dhabi today, against Zimbabwe, the opening match of the first tri-nation ODI series Bangladesh have played in seven years, and he believes the side can challenge for the title.

The tournament in the United Arab Emirates also features Afghanistan. Speaking in Abu Dhabi on Friday, Litton was asked whether it offers Bangladesh a big chance to be champions.

He did not hesitate: “Definitely, if we play good cricket, why not?”

It is a rare outing. Bangladesh have not played a tri-nation ODI series since 2019, with only major tournaments in between, and have won the trophy only once in 15 attempts, beating West Indies in the Dublin final before that year’s World Cup.

The captain conceded the format is unfamiliar territory, even for a long-serving player like him: “We play very few tri-nation series. I have been playing cricket for a long time myself, but I have very little experience of playing in tri-nation series.”

Losing hurts more in a three-team event: “When you play a regular series, there is not as much pressure because you know you still have a chance even if you lose the first match. But here, if you lose, the net run-rate comes into the equation.”

Litton takes over the ODI captaincy from Mehidy Hasan Miraz until the World Cup in October next year, and Bangladesh host the Asia Cup from June 18 to July 4, 2027, in the ODI format.

This series is his first official test as captain.

He sees the series as ideal groundwork for both events: “Really, it’s a big opportunity for me as a captain. And I think the thing is we have a World Cup and Asia Cup. In Asia Cup we playing in Bangladesh. I think this is the best time to this is the best preparation here because Asia Cup is like the five or six teams play sometimes and tri-nation we play three teams. So it’s like similar. You have same pressure and same things.”

Bangladesh lost their most recent ODI series 2-1 to Zimbabwe in July, after winning four in a row, and have secured direct World Cup qualification by finishing in the top nine of the rankings. The defeat looms over the opener.

Batting remains the concern. In the previous series against Afghanistan, Bangladesh failed to bat out 50 overs in any of the three ODIs. They were then bowled out in the first two matches in Zimbabwe, handing the hosts the series, before chasing a modest 200 in 36 overs in the third.

“We senior players have to take responsibility. As a batting unit, especially regarding what you mentioned about us being unable to bat for 50 overs here and in Zimbabwe, our responsibility will be to ensure that everyone who bats, from the top of the order through to numbers six and seven, can finish the innings,” Litton said.

Looking ahead, he refused to dwell on defeat: “The message is simple. We can prepare by keeping what happened in the past in mind. But we cannot always focus on the fact that we played badly before and will play badly again. Our mindset will always be positive, and we will try to play positively.”