Litton admits to 'immense tension' nearing century

Litton Das admitted he was under “immense tension” during an agonising wait to complete his century after being stranded on 99 amid a lengthy interruption on the opening day of the second Test against Pakistan in Sylhet on Saturday. 

A successful review that saved Shoriful Islam from an lbw dismissal, followed by hamstring cramps and a drinks break, prolonged the delay before Litton finally regained strike and punched a delivery through the covers for four to reach the milestone.

The day, however, belonged entirely to Litton. After Bangladesh collapsed to 116 for six having been asked to bat first, the wicketkeeper-batter emerged as the saviour, shepherding the tailenders to guide the hosts to a respectable 278 with a brilliant 126.

On his way to the century, Litton was batting on 98 when he attempted to take two runs by driving Sajid Khan through the covers. However, he could manage only a single. Stuck on 99, a prolonged wait ensued. When the umpire ruled Shoriful Islam lbw, Bangladesh opted for a review. Shoriful survived the review, but the wait was extended further as he suffered from leg cramps. A drinks break took place amidst this. Consequently, the nervousness of reaching the century heavily weighed on Litton.

Reflecting on the moments after the day's play, Litton said, 'I was under immense tension, especially when the ball hit Shoriful’s leg. I kept telling him to play forward because he is very tall, so if he went on the back foot, the chances of the ball hitting his pads were higher. But he provided excellent support.'

Partnering with three tailenders, Litton added 60, 38, and 64 runs for the seventh, eighth, and ninth wickets, respectively. In the 64-run partnership off 73 balls with Shoriful, Liton single-handedly contributed 51 runs off just 43 deliveries. His primary objective was to shield the lower-order batters and accelerate the scoring rate to guide the team to a position of maximum possible comfort.

Pakistan had placed extra fielders on the boundary ropes to restrict Liton as he approached his century. Despite that, he managed to find the gaps to send the ball to the fence. To achieve this, he focused strictly on reading the deliveries, stating, 'I realised that scoring off full-length balls would be difficult for me. I wanted them to bowl back-of-the-length deliveries so that I could create scoring opportunities. And they did exactly that. If you notice, most of my runs against pace came off back-of-the-length deliveries.'