Bangladesh national cricket team's senior assistant coach Mohammad Salahuddin has revealed the decision to demote Litton Kumar Das to the middle order in ODIs, saying that the "team is bigger than individuals".

Litton, who is making a comeback in the 50-over format with the upcoming three-match ODI series against Pakistan, is expected to bat down the order rather than at the top, a position that saw him produce all of his five ODI centuries.

Leading up to the series, Litton recently batted at five in a practice game against BCL All Stars XI, which the national outfit played as part of their preparation for the Pakistan series. It seems like Litton will now have to sacrifice his preferred position at the top and focus on anchoring the innings in the middle order.

"I think team is bigger than individual," Salahuddin told Cricbuzz when asked about the new batting order of the charismatic right-handed batsman in the 50-over format.

"It's true that he batted at the top for most part of his ODI career but at the same time we don't feel he doesn't have what it takes to shine in the middle order," he said.

"At this point there is a gap in the middle order as some of our experienced campaigner like Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah retired and we feel we need another experienced campaigner to fill those vacant positions, and as a result we opted to bring him in the middle order," he said, adding that Litton had already showed his ability to bat in the middle order in Test cricket, where he usually bats at six.

"Litton's experience (in the middle order) is very important here and if you look at his Test cricket record, it's outstanding. He bats at six there, sometimes five or six," he explained.

Since July last year, Litton had been dropped from Bangladesh's ODI plans and during this time frame played only three List 'A' matches, all in the recently concluded Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) one-day tournament, making 10, 55 and 0.

Litton remained active in the shorter format, playing 30 recognised T20 matches during that period and scoring 696 runs at an average of 25.77 with a strike rate of 130.58, including five half-centuries.

"Litton performed well in two formats and struggled only in the ODI format in the recent past and we are hoping if he settles in the middle order during the series his experience will help our team," he said.

"If you remember he batted in the middle order in the 2019 World Cup and played a brilliant innings of 90 odd runs against West Indies batting at six so he can manage batting at different positions and largely due to the fact he has the experience to bat at different positions," he added.

Meanwhile, a 15-member Pakistan squad arrived in Dhaka on Sunday to play the three-match ODI series, scheduled at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium respectively on March 11,13 and 15.