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Liton’s sparkle the only respite
NABID YEASIN
Aimed at the chest and rising high, Neil Wagner’s brutal bouncer was intended to rattle Liton Das, who was yet to get going in his innings. But the right-hander was up for the task, doing brilliantly to drop his gloves and get his head away -- the textbook way of evading a bouncer.
The next time Wagner tried something similar, Liton stood tall and pulled him through midwicket for a boundary. The message was clear: he would not let bowlers dictate terms.
It was exactly what Bangladesh needed, for someone to make a statement after the Tigers’ frailty against pacey and bouncy deliveries directed at their bodies has often been exposed in recent outings.
Yesterday was never supposed to be Bangladesh’s day, with the visitors fighting only to reduce the margin of defeat on the third day of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.
Liton being his usual self not only provided Bangladesh with something to cheer but also treated cricket lovers to an exquisite array of cricketing shots that fans long to see in any format of the game.
“Liton is very sound technically. Looking at the way he bats, it seems as if Liton gets a lot of time for shot-making just like world-class players do,” Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque emarked on Liton’s batting.
“I think he did not try to force any shots other than putting away the bad ones. And if we can not make use of the deliveries that can be scored off, we can not make runs.
“He waited a long time and only pounced on the loose deliveries that he got afterward. His batting was eye-soothing. Everyone was delighted as he scored two centuries in back-to-back series. I was really enjoying his batting.”
The 27-year-old is often regarded as someone with the kind of solid technique that could see him rank among the top batters in modern cricket. That claim certainly rang true when he drove Trent Boult for four boundaries off five deliveries, forcing the pacer to change his angle twice in between.
In fact, Liton has been amongst the runs in Tests for a while despite his struggles in white-ball cricket. Both his Test tons came in his last 10 innings, which yielded runs at an average of 54.
While his recent stats can be termed splendid, especially considering they are of a batter who features for a side that usually struggle in Tests, the numbers still fail to demonstrate the true potential that Liton possesses.
One aspect is that the longer Liton bats, the more he induces a craving from the fans for his class. For Liton, it is probably time to push his standards further and sate the fans’ yearning, not only for the benefit of Bangladesh but also for the sake of enhancing the beauty of cricket.
I think he did not try to force any shots other than putting away the bad ones. He waited a long time and only pounced on the loose deliveries that he got afterward. His batting was eye-soothing. Everyone was delighted as he scored two centuries in back-to-back series. I was really enjoying his batting
Mominul Haque

BFF’s muddled logic courts controversy
SPORTS REPORTER
There has always been controversy surrounding refereeing decisions in football grounds across the world and Bangladesh has proven no exception, with a couple of clubs recently raising questions about decisions that went against them in the just-concluded Federation Cup.
Such controversies have been a long-standing problem in Bangladesh football, which has led to national players, who become used to poor refereeing standards in the domestic circuit, being punished heavily during international assignments.
But despite clubs spending crores to form squads, they are time and again left to rue the standards of refereeing, which have hardly improved.
The Bangladesh Football Federation on Monday ruled out the appointment of foreign referees from the sub-continent to oversee crucial Bangladesh Premier League matches.
However, the reasoning behind their hesitation to appoint foreign referees really came as the biggest surprise.
“We are not thinking of the foreign referees [in Bangladesh Premier League] because foreign referees don’t have an idea about which is a big team and which is a small team,” BFF senior vice-president Abdus Salam Murshedy said.
Former FIFA referee Mansur Azad, who conducted top-flight football matches for in Bangladesh 17 years, disputed that notion. “I don’t accept this opinion. During my refereeing career, I made mistakes but I never intended to make Abahani or Mohammedan winners.” “It is right that the comments from the BFF official means the current batch of referees is conducting the matches with the notion of big and small teams in mind. The duty of the referee is to complete a match smoothly within the rules and regulations,” Azad said, adding that the federation should empower referees to blow the whistle without any kind of fear.