Liton first among equals

India batters Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant gifted their bats to Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan after the second and final Test between the sides at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on Tuesday. It was Shakib's final away Test for Bangladesh who lost the match by seven wickets and went down 2-0 in the series. Kohli brought out his bat and gave it to Shakib and Pant followed suit as players from both sides started to gather for the presentation ceremony. Photo: BCB 

Sarfraz Ahmed, the Pakistan captain, took the blame for his team's poor show at the Asia Cup, but said that there's time to rebuild the team for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

A convincing eight-wicket win over Hong Kong in the tournament opener suggested Pakistan were going to be a force. But it was followed by an eight-wicket defeat to India, and then, following a last-over win over Afghanistan in the Super Fours, losses to India and Bangladesh. As a result, Pakistan crashed out of the tournament they have won twice in the past.

"Yes, our performance was very poor. Our batting wasn't good, and we dropped a lot of catches. Our bowling was also patchy, and that's the reason we are out of the tournament," accepted Ahmed, who had a poor run with the bat himself, scoring 68 runs in four innings.

"I still believe we have a lot of talented players in the team. Look at Fakhar Zaman. Though he didn't have a good tournament, we have to back him. Babar Azam too. Imam has, thankfully, done well, but there's also Shadab and Hasan. We have to back them and take them along with us. We have to look at our bench too. We have a pool of players, and by the time the World Cup comes, we'll have a good team," said Ahmed.

"The World Cup is quite some time away, we have other engagements before that. Australia are coming, and then there's New Zealand. So we have to review our performance and see where we are falling short.

"We are losing too many wickets early, and the middle order has had to deal with the new ball, which isn't easy, and hitting quickly in the end isn't easy on these pitches. We'll have to get together and fix these issues."

While Ahmed called the performance 'alarming', he added, "There's no need to press the panic button. Yes, we have made mistakes as a team, and as a captain, I know that I didn't do well. But no need to panic, we need to back the players, look at the positions and see if there are people outside the team who can come in."

Pacer Hasan Mahmud struck twice to reduce Pakistan to nine for two at the end of the third day's play of the second Test in Rawalpindi on Sunday, the hosts leading by 21 runs.

The pacer produced an edge from Abdullah Shafique for a caught-behind before skirting the top of stumps of night-watchman Khurram Shahzad with a peach as he made the new ball talk.

That sets up fascinating fourth day in Rawalpindi, with Bangladesh leading the two-match series 1-0.

Liton falls for 138, Bangladesh fold for 262

Liton Das's epic century came to an end at 138 runs, scored off 228 deliveries, featuring four sixes and 13 fours.

Part-time spinner Salman Ali Agha did the job, forcing perhaps the first mistimed shot of his long vigil, which was held well by Saim Ayub in the deep.

Nahid Rana soon departed for nought, shouldering arms to a straight one against Salman as Bangladesh innings ended on 262, 12 runs shy of what Pakistan had scored.

Khurram Shahzad eventually ended with six wickets while Salman and Mir Hamza grabbed a brace each.

Liton Das brought up his fourth Test century and first one in more than two years as Bangladesh continued to eat away at the deficit against Bangladesh.

Liton Das pulls one during his century against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Photo: AFP

The wicketkeeper-batter brought up his century with a delicate late cut against Abrar Ahmed as Bangladesh reached 217 for eight. Liton was batting on 104 with Hasan Mahmud on two.

Tea: Bangladesh 193 for eight

Khurram Shahzad broke the record 165-run seventh wicket stand between Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Liton Das by removing the former with a caught-and-bowled for 78 runs. The right-arm pacer then had Taskin Ahmed trapped LBW for one for his sixth wicket of the innings as Bangladesh went to tea break at 193 for eight.

Liton was batting on 83 as Bangladesh still trailed Pakistan's first-innings total by 81 runs.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz scored 78. Photo: AFP

Liton Das and Mehedi Hasan Miraz struck unbeaten half-centuries as Bangladesh avoided the follow-on mark of 125, reaching 137 for six half-way through the second session.

There was no more dismissal for the Tigers in the second session as Liton (55*) and Miraz (51*) have forged an unbroken 111-run seventh-wicket partnership.

This is the second lowest score (26/6) since which a partnership has added a century-partnership in Test cricket.T

his is also only the third time in Tests a seventh-wicket stand added 100 runs after being six down for below 50

Lunch: Bangladesh 75 for six 

Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Liton Das dragged Bangladesh back from the brink with a resolute seventh-wicket stand after the visitors had lost six wickets in 9.3 overs in the first 40 minutes of play on Sunday morning.

Miraz (33*) and Liton (13*) took the Tigers to 75 for six at lunch after at one stage they were 26 for six, looking at a massive first-innings deficit.

It also helped that two right-handed batters were at the crease together, which helped negate the inswing to the left-handers from Khurram Shahzad and Mir Hamza.

Pakistan were bowled out for 274 on the second day, with Bangladesh finishing 10 without loss at stumps. The first day's play was washed out by rain.

Since the first day's play was completely washed out, Bangladesh will have to score at least 125 to avoid follow-on, not the regular 199-run deficit applied for five-day matches.

First hour: Bangladesh 36 for six after 13 overs

Bangladesh made a dreadful start to the third day's play in the second Test against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Sunday, losing six wickets for 36 runs after the first hour's play.

Having survived two overs overnight, the Bangladesh batters looked uncomfortable right from the beginning against the movement from Mir Hamza and Khurram Shahzad – the two pacers operating with a fairly new ball.

They pitched the ball in the right areas and got it to swing both ways, with the left-handed batters especially showing lack of application in dealing with the swing.

Zakir Hasan, who lived a charmed life, was the first to fall for 1 off 16 deliveries, offering a simple catch at short mid-wicket against Khurram.

Khurram Shahzad celebrates the dismissal of Zakir Hasan. Photo: PCB

While Hamza was desperately unlucky to see two catches go down off his bowling in the innings, it was Khurram who was reaping the rewards from the other end.

He bowled Shadman Islam around his legs for 10 before getting rid of Najmul Hossain Shanto (4) with a similar inswinger.

Hamza finally got some reward when he induced a catch off a slower delivery against Mominul Haque (1) as the Tigers, who had won the first Test at this venue by 10 wickets, were already looking down the barrel.

Mushfiqur Rahim (3) was the next to fall, edging a rising delivery from Hamza to the wicketkeeper before Shakib Al Hasan (10) was given lbw for the fourth wicket for Khurram.

The morning of September 29 must have broken with some harsh light for the Bangladesh cricketers in Dubai and their loyal fans back home. It was much the same on March 23, 2012, when the Asia Cup final against Pakistan was lost in the final ball in Mirpur the night before. But as time wore on in 2012, the pain of defeat gave way to a feeling of accomplishment born from the feeling that Bangladesh cricket had finally broken through and had defeated all but one of their more celebrated neighbours before falling at the final hurdle.

On Friday night, the pain of failure at the final hurdle in the final ball -- this time against India -- haunted the cricketers and cricket lovers once again. Like 2012, this pain too shall pass but there will be a different sense of accomplishment from Asia Cup 2018.

Defeating Sri Lanka in the opener, then Afghanistan and Pakistan in must-win games may sound par for the course for the team fans have come to know since 2012. However, winning two of those matches without talismanic opener Tamim Iqbal and the one against Pakistan without both Tamim and ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is not something that would have been expected. Making the final in the kind of heat they had never experienced before and doing it with setbacks that would have crippled Bangladesh sides of the past marks a new level.

To accomplish that, young players who were part of the support cast -- Liton Das and Mohammad Mithun -- and those who were leaders in waiting but often seemed to need a helping hand -- Mustafizur Rahman and Mehedi Hasan Miraz -- came to the fore. That, and the tremendous fighting spirit shown by the Tigers throughout the two-week long event -- not least in taking India's chase of 222 down to the final ball on Friday -- will be Bangladesh's biggest takeaway.

"Everyone may think about the 2012 Asia Cup final, but I see it a little differently," Bangladesh opener Tamim had said on September 13, two days before the tournament opener against Sri Lanka in Dubai. "The 2012 Asia Cup was the tournament where we first got the belief that we could beat any team -- that we could be competitive.

"I remember that; not my four fifties or how we lost the final by two runs. I remember how we played as a team and beat teams that no one would have thought we could beat. We beat India and Sri Lanka, and lost two very competitive matches against Pakistan."

Little did Tamim know then that it was his injury two days later, which forced him to fly out of the Asia Cup and back home, that would contribute to this tournament being remembered as the next big step for Bangladesh after 2012.

Since 2012, Bangladesh's graph has trended upward, with occasional dips. But a common feature of that rise has been the people doing the heavy lifting. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad have been the five cricketers who have worked wonders for Bangladesh cricket over much of the last decade.

But this Asia Cup was a departure from the norm because the Bangladesh team do not often do well with setbacks, especially when they have to fight with those setbacks against oppositions perceived to be superior. That happened in this tournament too -- losing the last group game against Afghanistan and the first Super Four match against India in abject fashion were a function of them struggling to overcome the setbacks of losing Tamim, scheduling confusions and having to play three matches in four days in 40-plus degree heat.

The recovery, and the architects of the recovery, will be the source of inspiration for future campaigns. While it is true that there was magical captaincy from Mashrafe, he still had to rely on opener Imrul Kayes to fly in on Saturday night and score a match-winning fifty against Afghanistan on Sunday from number six, rescuing the side in partnership with Mahmudullah from 87 for five. Faced with non-performing opening pairs, Mashrafe took the wildcard decision to open with number eight batsman Mehedi in the final, but the youngster still had to show the courage to be a part of a 120-run opening stand with a sublime Liton. For his part, Liton was the one who had to repay his captain's continued faith, and he did so with a maiden century in the most important game of the tournament.

Mushfiqur was Bangladesh's best batsman in the tournament with scores of 144 in the opening game and 99 against Pakistan. In both those innings, however, Mithun was an indispensable foil with innings of 63 and 60 in century-plus partnerships that rescued Bangladesh from top-order collapses. 

In each of Bangladesh's three wins in the tournament, someone other than the Big Five stepped up and took responsibility. The bowlers, led by Mashrafe, Mustafizur and Mehedi, were consistent throughout and the spirited fielding was the flag-bearer of the team's never-say-die spirit.

 "The positives depend on the individuals. I think losing to India twice was something that I didn't desire. When Shakib and Tamim are back, the team will do well in the future if we can hold on to this spirit," Mashrafe said after the match.

There will certainly be heartbroken fans who will rue another missed opportunity, another last-ball failure. But this tournament showed that the ingredients long craved for outside the Big Five are very much present and the work in progress is waiting for completion with the return of the two big stalwarts.

The takeaway from this latest heartbreak is that it will just be a matter of time before bittersweet gives way to unadulterated joy.