ZIM vs BAN | Mahmudullah and Liton Das really complemented each other, praises Ashwell Prince
Liton Das scored his career-best 95
|After a 132-run stand that rescued Bangladesh, batting coach Ashwell Prince has praised the duo of Mahmudullah and Liton Das, stating that the pair really complemented each other in the middle. He also showered praises on Dasâ efforts but expressed disappointment over the batter missing a ton.
Despite skipper Momimul Haqueâs efforts early on in the encounter, Bangladesh found themselves in a precarious situation at 132-6, having won the toss and chose to bat earlier in the day. The experienced duo of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim could only put on scores of 3 and 11 respectively in the one-off Test against Zimbabwe.Â
However, wicketkeeper Liton Das, alongside Mahmudullah, proved that batting was an easier task than what the entire top-six had managed to do, with their partnership propelling the Tigers to a comfortable position, after the early hiccups. Going into the series against Zimbabwe, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman had consistently put on scores but never had scored the three-figure mark.Â
While he did miss the three-figure mark yet again, been dismissed for 95, Bangladeshâs batting coach Ashwell Prince showered praise on the partnership between Mahmudullah and Das, stating that the duo really complemented each other in the middle.Â
"Mahmudullah played a really crucial innings for the team. He was the perfect person for that job at the time. He and Liton Das really complemented one another really nicely. He was watchful, and Liton maneuvered the ball around. At 132 for 6, it was a big partnership for the team,â Prince said, reported ESPNCricinfo.
Against Sri Lanka and West Indies, Das had scores of 71 and 50 but never had threatened to score a century against either of the opponents. Prince pointed out that âlack of concentrationâ had a direct impact on Liton not being able to get the three-figure score.
"During some of our conversations during the week, he shared that sometimes he gives his wicket away in the thirties or forties, due to lack of concentration," Prince said
While Prince clearly expressed his disappointment over the wicketkeeper-batsman not getting to the three-figure mark, he insisted that this innings would serve as a good learning curve for him.Â
"I told him, if he can bat for more than three hours, forgetting about the score which is on 30 or 40, he'd be close to a hundred. I would like to see how many hours he batted today. We were all quite disappointed for him that he didn't get the hundred. I think this is a good learning for him."
Prince reckoned that Bangladesh are well on their way to putting up a good total but insisted that the tail-enders have to stay at the crease alongside the experienced Mahmudullah.
"Nobody knows how good a score is, until both teams have batted on the pitch. So we can't take for granted that anything between 290-320 is a good score. The best situation for Bangladesh would be to get as many runs we can get."
