'Story might end in the league stage' - Former India cricketer on Bangladesh's chances in 2025 Asia Cup

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra feels Bangladesh will make an early exit from the upcoming Asia Cup. He also highlighted the team's overreliance on skipper Litton Das. Having played a total of 110 T20Is, Litton is one of Bangladesh's most experienced players in the Asia Cup squad.

Although Chopra credited Litton's prowess, he also admitted that he has not performed to his potential. For the unversed, the 30-year-old wicketkeeper-batter possesses an underwhelming strike rate of 126.46 in his T20I career so far.  

"They have an overdependence on Litton Das. Litton Das is a quality player, but he is an underachiever. He hasn't done as well as the ability he has. He is the captain at the moment, so the team will definitely look towards him, but they look towards him too much. They have a tendency of choking in big moments," stated Chopra in a video on his YouTube channel.

Chopra also pointed out Bangladesh's biggest shortcoming as the dearth of power-hitters in their squad, which will likely have a big impact if opposition decide to go all-out against their bowling attack.

"If we look at it in 2025, they have very few batters whose strike rates are close to 150. You see just one or two above 140. They are not a team that is looking for 210-220. They are a team that is very comfortable with a 160-180 total. If the opposing team decides to hit a lot, they might not have any answers," Chopra observed.

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that Bangladesh, who once used to 'punch above their weight' and give others stiff competition, have simply been 'participants' in the recent mega events which have gone down in the past. 

"If we talk about opportunity, they have nothing to lose and the entire world to gain because they haven't been doing well in multi-nation tournaments for a long time. They used to punch above their weight. They knocked us out in 2007. They are participants in world tournaments, but are not going into them as contenders, and this is what they want to do now," Chopra said.

The 47-year-old concluded by noting that Afghanistan and Sri Lanka will emerge as the teams progressing out of Group B.

"So, the opportunities are endless, but to say the truth, their job is cut out, even though it would be wrong to rule out any team in T20s. I feel they will get stuck. Afghanistan and Sri Lanka might actually qualify from that group. So, Bangladesh's story might end in the league stage," he added.

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Bangladesh come into the Asia Cup on the back of three back-to-back T20I series triumphs. They will be eager on keeping up the momentum and putting on a good display at the upcoming 20-over tournament in the United Arab Emirates.