Litton's message - compete hard, contribute more

Hours before he sat down to talk up Bangladesh's pace depth at the pre-series press conference, Litton Das could have simply pointed his audience towards the nets at the Bir Sreshtha Shahid Flight Lieutenant Motiur Rahman Cricket Stadium.

The picture there, on the eve of the T20 series opener against Australia, told its own story.

Shoriful Islam, fresh off a career-best 6-48, was in a personal duel with Parvez Hossain Emon at the centre wicket. Emon had just smashed one of his bouncers for a brutal six, and the left-arm quick stood fuming in his follow-through, clearly unwilling to let the last ball of his session go quietly.

"Emon, hit me a six again. I will bowl the same ball," Shoriful declared. Emon just laughed.

The next ball came in quicker and shorter. Emon swung, missed completely, and Shoriful walked off grinning.

It was that kind of afternoon: Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman and Nahid Rana were all putting the same heat on the batters elsewhere in the nets, a reminder of how deep and how competitive Bangladesh's pace pool has become.

Even that wasn't enough for Shoriful, who told batting coach Mohammad Ashraful he wanted a hit-out himself before heading back to the hotel.

Nearby, Mahedi Hasan and Nasum Ahmed had taken their turn at the centre wicket, while at the side net, Rishad Hossain was up against mystery spinner Mohammad Rubel, part of last year's Bangladesh Premier League-winning Rajshahi Warriors side, and Bangladesh Cricket Board’s high-performance leg-spinner Mehedi Hasan Sohag.

When one mistimed shot dropped short, Mahedi could not resist a dig from the middle of the pitch: "These are not sixes. These are catches at the boundary."

Rishad answered the only way he knew how, depositing the next several deliveries well over Mahedi’s head. In the side net, Ashraful — busy feeding balls to Towhid Hridoy and Shamim Hossain Patwary — stopped to take in the show. "Rishad! Great batting," he called out, chuckling.

By the time Abdul Gaffar Saqlain and Shoriful finally got their turn against the white Kookaburra, the tone for the day had long been set.

It was this competitive intensity that Litton pointed to later at the press conference, framing it as a feature rather than a problem to manage. "It's a good thing that your pace side is very strong. You can play any player in the best XI. It's healthy competition. At the same time, it's good for the Bangladesh team that your bench is becoming very strong," he said, noting that the return of senior pacers like Taskin Ahmed after a rest did not crowd out the others.

"Maybe Shoriful has played one match now; in another series he may play two or three matches, then get a break and someone else will play. That's how it will continue," he said.

On what he wanted from the bowlers with the bat, Litton kept his expectation modest: "Not too much, but even a little bit would be enough."

Back in the nets, the message seemed to have already landed. Long after the frontline batters had packed up, Shoriful and Saqlain were still out there trading blows with the white Kookaburra, neither willing to be the first to walk off.