Pakistan were chasing Bangladesh’s target of 437 in the fourth innings of the Sylhet Test.
During the fifth ball of the 72nd over, Taijul Islam was approaching the crease to bowl to Mohammad Rizwan when the Pakistan batter suddenly stopped him, pointing out movement near the sightscreen as someone was walking past.
Wicketkeeper Litton Das did not take it lightly. Earlier as well, Rizwan had repeatedly delayed the game due to cramps and other reasons. Rizwan’s “cramp tactics” are already quite well known in international cricket. The batter himself once admitted that not every cramp is genuine and that he sometimes deliberately acts in pain to waste time.
Litton was clearly aware of that reputation. Before the delivery, the exchange between the two went like this:
Litton: “What are you doing? You’re pausing on every ball.”
Rizwan: “So, should I play like this?” (pointing toward the movement near the sightscreen)
Litton: “Why are you looking that way? Look this way.”
Rizwan: “Is it my job or your job to clear the view?”
The umpire then stepped in to calm things down before the ball was finally bowled. But Litton did not miss the chance to continue sledging Rizwan. Before the final ball of the over, with Rizwan unbeaten on 53, Litton was heard saying, “Scored a few runs and now the acting has started. Everyone knows it. The acting is going on.”
Meanwhile, captain Najmul Hossain Shanto joined in from the slips with his own banter, “Too much acting, brother, too much. No, no, he won’t get space there. We will charge 50 paisas for this overacting.”
The sledging did not stop even after the over ended. Litton continued by saying, “He acts really well. He’s teaching everyone how to act.”
Since Rizwan had already reached a fighting half-century and stitched together a century partnership with Salman Ali Agha during a crisis, Shanto added another sarcastic remark, “Now his place in the team is confirmed. Thats why he is acting.”
This was not the first such incident in the series either. During the fourth innings of the Mirpur Test, when Rizwan was batting, Litton had said, “His reputation in Pakistan is very bad. If he gets out trying to hit, he won’t even be able to enter the country.”
Pakistan batting coach Asad Shafiq was later asked about the sledging and banter from the final session of day four in Sylhet. Speaking at the press conference, he said he did not know exactly what had happened but did not think it was anything serious.
“I mean, I don’t know exactly what happened, but these kind of things happen in a Test match and I don’t think there was anything serious. It’s just a chit-chat,” he said.
Bangladesh pace bowling coach Shaun Tait, meanwhile, appeared to enjoy the verbal exchanges involving his players. Although he admitted he did not understand exactly what was being said on the field, the Australian clearly appreciated the aggressive edge.
“I don’t know what was said. I enjoy it. I mean, I’m Australian, so yeah, that probably says a lot. I love it. I think there’s got to be some argy-bargy. Okay, not all the time,” Tait said.
However, he also warned that players should not cross the line, even though aggression is part of cricket.
“You don’t want to cross the line and all that stuff, but you’ve got to have a bit of aggression. I mean, it’s a Test match, you know, Pakistan, Bangladesh. I think for the fans, for all of us, you want to see some passion in the game. Some guys in a contest trying to get each other out, trying to stay in the contest. So, I love it,” he added.
