We can win but...: Litton Das confident of Bangladesh's win but want THIS batsman to get out early

Zee News

Bangladesh batter and Test vice-captain Litton Das said on Saturday that it would be possible for his side to win if they pick up one or two Indian wickets early in the morning on the fourth day of the match and his side is ahead at the end of the third day. Bangladesh bowlers struck early in the innings to dismiss India's top order leaving visitors reeling at 45/4 and needing 100 more runs to win at the time of stumps of Day three of the ongoing second Test here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Saturday.

Stumps on Day 3__ of the second #BANvIND Test.#TeamIndia move to 45/4 & require 100 runs to win with @akshar2026 & @JUnadkat at the crease.

Scorecard - https://t.co/CrrjGfXPgL pic.twitter.com/d9w83R8qLt

— BCCI (@BCCI) December 24, 2022

"Of course it is possible to win, if we can pick one or two wickets early in the morning it is possible. Definitely, we are ahead at the moment and they are under pressure. If tomorrow we come up with a good plan, definitely they will break down. That is our goal. We need to win," said Litton in a press conference after the match. "We always know how hard it is to bat in the fourth innings in Mirpur. We knew that we had to give them a 200-220 target but the score that we actually put up, they still need 100 and it is still difficult. They will be under pressure if we take one or two quick wickets tomorrow. I think this target is enough for a win," he added.

Litton said that Rishabh Pant will be an extremely key man on the fourth day of the match.

"If Rishabh bats like he usually does, it will be difficult. The scenario will change. We are bowling well, and the pitch is helping us. Let us see what happens," he said. Litton scored a valuable 73 run knock and stitched stands with Nurul Hasan (31) and Taskin Ahmed (31) to help Bangladesh reach 231 and gain a lead of 144 runs. He said that one has to counter-attack on the Mirpur surface. "When Miraz came to bat I told him that it is not the kind of surface where one can defend and stay for a long time," he said. "You have to counterattack. Miraz could not do it but I said the same thing to Sohan (Nurul) bhai. The time he spent brought vital runs no matter how long and then I told Taskin the same thing."

"The more you get bogged down here, the more they will dominate. The match cannot be drawn or you can bat for a long time. So what I told everyone is that we need runs no matter how they come. It is difficult to defend 100, but the scenario is different when you set 150 to win. It would have been even better had the lead been 200. This Test wouldn't go into the fifth day, so I kept saying to Taskin that we must attack them. I think we were successful," he added.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz scalped three wickets as India finished the day at 45/4, still, 100 runs away from a victory. After suffering dismissals of star batters like Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Cheteshwar Pujara within the 20 overs of the game, Axar Patel handled struggling India's charge and is unbeaten at 26 runs off 54 deliveries with the help of three fours. Bangladesh resumed its innings from 195/7 but could not do much as Indian bowlers bundled out them for 231.

Chasing a target of 145, India got off to the worst start as they lost the opener and captain KL Rahul in the 3rd over of the game. Bangladesh bowlers restricted Indian batters from scoring boundaries and taking singles, leaving visitors in big trouble. Mehidy Hasan Miraz struck again as he dismissed Pujara for 6 runs after removing India captain. At that moment India were tottering at 12/2. Bangladesh bowlers kept India under pressure as they kept removing visitors from the crease.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz who was in red-hot form left India struggling for runs as he dismissed Virat Kohli in the 20th over of the game. Kohli went back to the pavilion after scoring just a single run off 22 deliveries, leaving India tottering at 37/4. Axar Patel however held the fort from the front as he kept gathering singles at regular intervals.

Earlier, India bowlers put up a brilliant performance against Bangladesh to cause trouble, however, Litton Das handled the charge fiercely as the hosts extended their lead to 108 runs on Day three of the ongoing second Test against India here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka on Saturday. Litton remained unbeaten on 58 while Taskin Ahmed scored 15 heading into stumps, while Bangladesh's core read 195/7. At the time of lunch, Bangladesh were tottering at 71 for four after Indian bowlers struck again and again and destroyed the host's top order, taking an upper hand in the match.

Bangladesh resumed their innings at 71/4, Zakir Hasan and Litton Das handled the charge as they slammed Indian bowlers all around the ground while gathering singles at regular intervals. In the 41st over of the game, Zakir Hasan brought up his half-century in 129 balls as he slammed a beautiful front foot straight drive past the bowler for three runs. However, Hasan's half-century stint at the crease was cut short as he was dismissed by Umesh Yadav after scoring 51 runs off 135 deliveries.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz then came out to bat but the latter could not do much as he was sent packing by Axar without opening his run tally. The right-handed batter Nurul Hasan then came out to bat. Litton played with aggression slamming Indian bowlers for boundaries while Hasan played a supporting role taking singles at regular intervals. In the 54th over of the game, Nurul Hasan's stint at the crease was cut short as Axar delivered a stunning delivery to dismiss the batter. Hasan was removed after playing a knock of 31 off 29 deliveries with two fours and one six, leaving Bangladesh tottering at 159/7.

New batter Taskin Ahmed then came out to join hands with Litton. Well set dangerous batter Litton brought up his fierce fifty in 74 balls as Virat Kohli put down another catch at first slip. Litton slammed Ravichandran Ashwin for 10 runs with the help of one stunning four and singles at regular intervals. Earlier, Indian bowlers' disciplined performance in the first session against Bangladesh jostled the hosts as they lost four batters for 71 runs on the third day of the second test here at the Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka.

Jaydev Unadkat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Siraj and Axar Patel took a wicket each to dismantle the hosts in the first session of the third day of the second test. Zakir Hasan (37*) and Litton Das, still to open his account took the hosts to 71/4 at lunch. Resuming the inning at 7/0, Bangladesh lost their first wicket in the second over of the day to Ashwin as he found Shanto (5) plumb in front of the wicket after surviving a close call on the previous delivery. Siraj and Ashwin bowled in tandem and looked threatening as they made the opposition batters play defensively. Mominul Haque struck Siraj for a boundary but the pacer had the last laugh as he dismissed the first inning's top-scorer for 5 runs.

The batters were made to sweat for runs as the Indian bowlers bowled in the right areas and kept a lid on the scoring rate. Unadkat paired up with Umesh Yadav to make the Bangladesh batting lineup look fragile. The Saurashtra bowler got rid of Shakib Al Hasan in his first over of the day, reducing Bangladesh to 51/3. Shakib tried to be positive and play his shots but the left-arm pacer outdid the skipper, making him chip the ball in covers for a soft dismissal. Experienced batter Mushfiqur Rahim looked solid and it seemed Bangladesh would o into lunch with three wickets down but Axar Patel found him right in front of the wicket to dismiss the right-hander for 9 runs.

Zakir Hasan who made his debut for Bangladesh in the first test was the only batter who showed resilience against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. He anchored one end and made sure that the hosts did not suffer a collapse. Litton Das and Zakir remained unbeaten for the hosts as the umpires called lunch on the third day of the second test. Earlier, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer's knock guided India to 314 all out giving them an 87-run lead in the first innings of the second test.

Brief Scores: Bangladesh 227/10 and 195/7 (Litton Das 73, Zakir Hasan 51; Axar Patel 3-68) vs India 314/10 and 45/4 (Rishabh Pant 93, Shreyas Iyer 87; Taijul Islam 4-74) (Axar Patel 26*, Shubman Gill 7; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3-12).