We were extremely happy when Liton got century: Prince

CHATTOGRAM -After reaching his maiden Test century,

Liton Das had muted celebration as he took off his helmet and look up to
thank the God but the dressing erupted with joy as it was seen in the
Television.

   As the TV camera was panned to the dressing room, everyone was seen
celebrating his hundred wildly but head coach Russell Domingo particularly
looked over the moon--- he pumped his fist and punched it to the air.

   The celebration was understandable. Despite being touted as the most
talented batter, Liton Das couldn't translate his ability into the
International circuit. Finger was pointed to head coach Russell Domingo,
batting coach Ashwell Prince and the other coaching staff for Liton's
perpetual failure even though he had nine half-centuries in Test and a 95-run
in the last innings against Zimbabwe.

   Such is immensely talented he is that still it was not matching the
standard of Liton. The critics voice raised high when Liton went through a
poor batting form in the Twenty20 World Cup, leading his axe to the
Bangladesh's T20 squad.

   For his failure Liton was subjected to online troll and hatred. His wife
and family was also involved in this hatred comment and social media post
which inflicted a sheer mental agony to the batter.

   But the Bangladesh's dressing always stood by Liton, who also possessed
the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi batsman in ODI cricket. A day
earlier of the Test, captain Mominul Haque said, Liton had already overcome
the nightmare of Twenty20 World Cup and gear up for the Pakistan Test.

   And it was absolutely true. When he entered into the crease after first
hour of the morning session of the opening day of first Test, Bangladesh were
in troublesome 49-4. From that point, he helped Bangladesh to hit back to the
game, sharing a 204-run partnership with Mushfiqur in an undefeated fifth
wicket stand, which eventually placed Bangladesh on top at the end of the
day.

   What made his brilliant 113 not out more vital is that he played the last
part of his innings on the day with a cramp and pain, said batting coach
Ashwell Prince.

   "I was really impressed by how calm and composed Liton was today. I think
the most nervous everyone got was when Liton started getting cramps. We were
hoping that his body can hang in their till the end of the day. He is going
to recover tonight, and hopefully he can continue tomorrow," Prince said,
adding that "The dressing room was extremely happy when he got the hundred."

   Prince also said there were few things to fix technically in his batting
despite a poor T20 World Cup outing.

   "I didn't ask anything of him during the T20 series. He came here earlier
to prepare for the Tests. We worked on one or two little technical things.
Not a great deal of things. It was more about changing his stance, and
basically his alignment to get him lined up better. I think he showed good
balance at the crease. He is such a joy to watch. He makes batting look so
easy when he is batting well," he added.

   Prince also praised the effort of Mushfiqur Rahim, who dealt with
Pakistani pacers, who they were on top, utilizing the moisture of the pitch.

   "I think the guys showed a great deal of character and skills after we
were 40-odd for four today. Mushfiqur was very patient at the start. He is an
experienced player. A lot of younger players might have panicked at the low
strike-rate, and not being able to get the ball away. But he is an
experienced Test player. He stayed calm. He knew runs can come in faster periods in Tests. He played a great innings."BSS