Liton: We can win at any place, under any circumstances

Bangladesh’s record successful chase against Sri Lanka in the Nidahas T20I tri-nation series at R Premadasa Cricket Stadium Saturday evening had come after the openers laid a solid platform. However, there was a slight change in the roster - prominent opener Tamim Iqbal had walked out to the middle with Liton Das to start Bangladesh's massive chase. Liton opened with the bat for the first time for his country in the shortest format - pushing down Soumya Sarkar to No 3. Bangladesh had deployed a simple equation - get the left- and right-hand combination in and put Sri Lanka off-spinners Akila Dananjaya and Danushka Gunathilaka onto the back foot. The Tigers’ plot was set up keeping in mind their recent experience of being whitewashed in the two-match T20I series at home where they had given away wickets to Dananjaya in the powerplay, especially the left-handed openers in the shape of Tamim and Soumya. The move to surprise the opposition was decided by the Bangladesh think-tank a day before going into the Sri Lanka game and it worked wonders as the Tigers chased down 215 runs losing five wickets with two balls to spare.

Tamim Iqbal talks about the successful run-chase, the move to send Liton Das up the order and Rahim's 'Nagin' dance. https://t.co/z1UEFlBB0Z #NidahasTrophy2018 pic.twitter.com/0sBdBs8uJN

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The aggressor of the success was Liton, who had blitzed his way to a 19-ball 43 with two boundaries and five over boundaries. The right-handed batsman before getting dismissed in the sixth over had already put on 74 on the board alongside Tamim - the Tigers’ highest for the first wicket and Bangladesh’s second best score in the first powerplay. As far as the team are concerned, the chase was Bangladesh’s highest successful and the first time that the Tigers scored 200-plus in the format. The chase was the fourth highest successful in T20Is by any team and the highest on Sri Lanka soil by any side. "I was informed a day earlier that I will have to open with Tamim bhai. I am habituated with this (opening) so there is nothing to speak on the role I had. I know how to bat," said Liton to the media in Colombo Sunday.

Liton Das departs after playing a stunning knock of 43 off just 19 balls with 2 fours and 5 sixes. #SLvBAN pic.twitter.com/AOfBliCYS2

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"It was a very big score we were chasing. We were chasing 215. Only thing I had in my mind was to score as many runs in the powerplay and make the job easy for the remaining batsmen," the wicketkeeper-batsman added. Following the record opening stand, stumper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim came in at No 4, and stepped up to the occasion, taking the side to the shore with his T20I career-best knock of unbeaten 72 off 35 deliveries. "It is true that we have not been able to score 200 in T20Is before but it is not that we do not have the ability. We had the belief that we can win on our day at any place and under any circumstances," said Liton. "Winning is a habit and I hope we will be able to hold onto that consistently and take the momentum into the matches in the coming days," the right-handed batsman added.