Liton hails ‘team effort’ in historic Test series win

Bangladesh batter Liton Das stressed the importance of 'team effort' in scripting a historic Test series win over Pakistan, materialised through a six-wicket win in the second Test in Rawalpindi today. 

The stylish right-hander was adjudged player of the second Test for his scintillating 138-run innings that rescued his side from the depths of 26 for six to post a total of 262. 

Liton, however, reminded everybody about how even catches can change the momentum of a match. 

"If you want to win a Test match then you have to bat, bowl, and field well. You saw in the first Test, the catch Zakir [Hossain] took and the one I caught off Babar [Azam]…brought the momentum." said Liton during the post-match presentation.

Liton credited the entire team's effort that helped Bangladesh seal the series after a 10-wicket win in the first game at the same venue last week. 

"Every batter batted really well except for the first half of the second Test. All the batters, bowlers and fielders did really well. 

"It is a big achievement for the Bangladesh cricket team. Being part of this team, I am very happy," Liton added. 

The pace trio of Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana etched their names into the history books as, for the first time in history, Bangladesh pacers scalped all 10 wickets in an innings (during Pakistan's second innings) of a Test. 

It was, however, Liton and Mehedi Hasan Miraz who laid the foundation by adding 165 runs in their seventh-wicket stand to rescue the Tigers after they had lost six wickets below 30 runs in the first innings. 

Liton got to his fourth Test century but rather focusing on his 138-run epic, the wicketkeeper-batter chose to highlight the entire team's contribution.

"This is all about team effort," he reiterated his claim.

He also shared his experience with Miraz out in the middle.

"When me and Miraz were batting, actually the credit goes to Miraz. The way he faced a couple of balls at first. I got hit (in the elbow) and could not hit that much. So, when Miraz was batting, he hit 5 or 6 boundaries, and it made it easier for us. 

"We just had a conversation about killing their momentum because they had a good one at that time," Liton said.