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It was a strange day for Liton Das. 

The wicketkeeper-batter was snubbed from the Bangladesh national team for the forthcoming Champions Trophy as the chief selector, Gazi Ashraf Hossain, announced the 15-member squad at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at noon on Sunday. 

Around six hours later, he smashed his first T20 ton in Dhaka Capital’s record win over Durbar Rajshahi at the Sylhet International Stadium. 

Many thought that Liton was taking his frustrations out on Rajshahi’s bowlers. Many thought that his blistering knock came a bit late. 

But Liton admitted the fact that things hadn’t been going well for him as far as his batting was concerned. He also said that everyone knew why he was left out of the squad. 

‘If you are talking about the Champions Trophy, I would say that it was not in my hands.’ Liton said after Dhaka’s record 149-run win.

‘It’s a call from the selectors. It’s up to them whoever they select. My job here is to keep performing. 

‘I haven’t been performing in recent times. Maybe there was some regret in that. But the mindset I’ve had before the match remained the same,’ added Liton. 

Liton was struggling for runs across the formats. Though he hit his first fifty in any format in 23 innings when he scored 73 off 43 against Sylhet Strikers in their previous match, that wasn’t enough for convincing the selectors. 

Whether he was communicated with by the team management about the snub, Liton didn’t answer that directly. But he indicated the fact that it was predictable. 

‘It was a clear message. Why I did not make the cut, you’ll find that out if you go through the news. You [the reporters] did the news that I didn’t have performances. It’s nothing like unknown. That’s it,’ said the 30-year-old. 

‘The selectors may have thought that I did not fit into the team. If they think that I do, then they may take me back. But now my focus is on the BPL; I’ll try to do better,’ he added. 

Liton also didn’t want to think that his innings was some sort of testament that he’s back. 

‘I always say one thing: the present day has already passed. Maybe I have done well today, but I’ll have to start from zero again. I’ll work hard; let’s see what happens,’ he said.

‘There’s nothing to prove, to be honest. I don’t want to prove myself to anyone. I always think about getting better in my cricket; for the last few days, it wasn’t good. I’ll try to maintain the consistency.’ 

He also reiterated the fact that everything is not controllable. 

‘I’ll try,’ said Liton about him being stronger in the future.

‘I’m not saying that it will happen overnight. But there’s nothing you could do except try. One thing: those who are believers—in Allah, in Bhagabana—when the time comes, he’ll shower his blessings. We can only try. And there’s the matter of hard work, too.’