Bangladesh wicketkeeper Litton Das has claimed that his Pakistan counterpart Mohammad Rizwan did not shake hands with the Bangladesh team during the recent Test series between the two teams.
Rizwan-Das spat
Both Rizwan and Das had a verbal altercation on the fourth day of the Sylhet Test, which coach Shaun Tait later termed sledging.
The argument began when Mohammad Rizwan pulled away from facing the delivery while pointing towards the sightscreen. Litton then questioned why he was wasting time, which quickly heated things.
Eventually, on-field umpire Richard Kettleborough had to step in to ease both players down. Das, however, said that Rizwan hadn’t shaken hands with his side even before that incident.
“I didn’t like one thing. Whatever happens on the field, once the game is over, you shake hands with everyone. After we won the first Test, Rizwan didn’t come to shake our hands. That’s just bad, no matter who you are or how big a player you are. Win or lose, it’s about respect,” he said during an event with a Bangladesh news outlet.
Recalling the incident in the second Test, the Bangladesh stumper said the altercation was between him and Rizwan, but refusing to shake hands with the rest of the team did not leave a good impression of him.
“He might have an issue with me, but the whole Bangladesh team didn’t do anything to him. What should we expect from him next time? He didn’t show respect to our team,” he added, recalling the second Test.
Sledging Rizwan was part of strategy
Rizwan, along with Salman Ali Agha, had shown some resistance to Bangladesh bowlers’ onslaught during the final innings. Das acknowledged that the wicketkeeper and Babar Azam were the only players, in his view, who could pose any challenge for them.
“I knew only Babar and Rizwan could really trouble us. Rizwan’s record against Bangladesh is very strong, and that stayed in my mind,” he said.
This was one of the reasons, said Das, why he decided to sledge Rizwan when things were already intense for Pakistan.
“He’s a big deal in Pakistan, but something happened that I didn’t like. Ever since, I had a question mark about him. Plus, everyone knows Rizwan takes his time between balls. I was keeping wickets in that heat, and it was tough. So I decided to do something about it,” he concluded.
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