T20 World Cup 2021: Liton Das and Lahiru Kumara engage in war of words after former’s dismissal

Liton Das and Lahiru Kumara were involved in an ugly moment during Bangladesh’s match against Sri Lanka on Sunday, October 24 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The incident took place in the sixth over after Lanka opted to field first after winning the toss. Liton Das started his knock with a couple of scorching fours, but the right-hander was straining to find his feet to a large extent.

In the quest to up the ante, Liton gave his wicket away to Kumara. The latter bowled a pitched-up delivery outside the off stump and the batter tried to take the aerial route over the off side. Liton tried to clear the infield to fetch himself a four, but he faltered. Dasun Shanaka, the Lankan skipper, took a sharp catch inside the circle. Liton got out after scoring a run-a-ball 16.

Liton Das, Lahiru Kumara’s heated exchange

Thereafter, Kumara had a word or two to say to the Bangladesh batter when the latter was going back to the pavilion. The Dinajpur-born Das didn’t like the gesture by any means. Replying to Kumara’s words, Liton hurled some stern words as well. The situation was seeming to get out of hand when Charith Asalanka and the other players restored sanity into proceedings.

Here’s the video

#T20WorldCup #SLvBAN #INDvPAK match can disappoint but

Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh can never pic.twitter.com/pETlncnOKp

— Hemant Kumar (@SportsCuppa) October 24, 2021

On the personal front, Liton didn’t contribute a whole lot. But he was involved in a useful 40-run partnership with Mohammad Naim off 35 balls. On a difficult pitch to bat on, Naim and Liton made sure that the Tigers didn’t go through early jitters. Both of them got the scoreboard ticking as Sharjah’s pitch isn’t one where the batters could go to play the huge shots from the outset.

Liton, however, would look for a big score. In the first four games against Scotland, Oman, Papua New Guinea and Lanka, he promised, but couldn’t convert his starts. His inconsistency can be comprehended from the fact that he averages under 20 in T20Is.

After Liton got out, the Lankans sent back Shakib Al Hasan, who looked ominous in the Qualifiers. Chamika Karunaratne rattled his woodwork in the eighth over. However, at the other end, Naim went on to score big for the Tigers.