Pakistan - Bangladesh Cricket Series in Pakistan - 2024

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1st Test, Rawalpindi, August 21 - 25, 2024,

Pakistan
448/6d

Bangladesh
(12 ov) 27/0


Day 2 - Bangladesh trail by 421 runs.

 

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Saud Shakeel ................st †Litton Das b Mehidy Hasan Miraz ..... 141 .... 261 Balls
Mohammad Rizwan... not out ...................................................171 .... 239 Balls

 

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Mohammed Rizwan and Saud Shakeel walk off at lunch, having batted an entire session•Aug 22, 2024•Associated Press

 

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Saud Shakeel scored his third Test ton
Aug 22, 2024 ... PCB

 

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Pakistan lose early wicket as Bangladesh lead by 117 runs after first innings​

Saim Ayub's early dismissal will put additional pressure on Pakistan to close the gap and counter Bangladesh's lead.

News Desk
August 24, 2024

Pakistan's captain of the Test cricket team Shaan Masood. AFP/file

Pakistan faced an early setback in their second innings on the fourth day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.

Opener Saim Ayub, who scored a half-century in Pakistan's first innings, was dismissed for one run, caught behind off the bowling of Shoriful Islam in the third over.

Earlier, Bangladesh were dismissed for 565, thanks to a remarkable innings of 191 by veteran Mushfiqur Rahim.

Rahim’s marathon knock, which lasted eight hours and 42 minutes, concluded when he edged pacer Mohammad Ali to wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan.

Rahim's innings, combined with a record-breaking partnership of 196 runs for the seventh wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, helped Bangladesh secure a lead of 117 runs.

This total surpassed Bangladesh's previous record of 555-6 set against Pakistan in Khulna in 2015.

The stand between Rahim and Mehidy also set a new record for the highest seventh-wicket partnership against Pakistan, breaking the previous record of 186 runs set by Warren Lees and Richard Hadlee for New Zealand in Karachi in 1976.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz was dismissed for 77 by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who claimed 2-88. Naseem Shah was Pakistan’s most successful bowler with figures of 3-93.

 

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Bangladesh cruise to maiden Test victory over Pakistan​

AFP | Dawn.com
August 25, 2024

Bangladesh’s Shadman Islam (2L) and Zakir Hasan (2R) shake hands with Pakistan’s players after their team’s maiden Test win against Pakistan at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on August 25. — AFP

Spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan took seven wickets between them to secure Bangladesh’s maiden win over Pakistan in five-day cricket, a stunning 10-wicket victory in the first Test in Rawalpindi on Sunday.

Mehidy grabbed 4-21 and Shakib 3-44 to trigger a Pakistan collapse on the fifth day, with the home side dismissed for 146 runs in 55.5 overs.

That left Bangladesh a target of just 30 runs, which openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam reached in 6.3 overs.

Zakir (15) hit the winning boundary, with Shadman at the other end unbeaten on nine, as their squad celebrated a memorable victory.

Mohammad Rizwan top-scored for Pakistan in the second innings with 51, including six boundaries, but the home team were staring at defeat on 108-6 at lunch.

A holiday crowd of nearly 5,000 expected Pakistan to fight out a draw but Mehidy bowled Rizwan and trapped last man Mohammad Ali for a duck in successive overs.

Bangladesh, criticised for their lack of Test wins, now have one win each over Australia, England and Pakistan. The win in Rawalpindi was only their sixth in 143 Tests.

Pakistan’s batting crumbled on a pitch that had been unresponsive over the first four days until small cracks started to appear that were exploited by Bangladesh’s spinners.

The hosts declared their first innings at 448-6 and Bangladesh responded with 565, their highest against Pakistan in Tests. Pakistan also paid for not including a frontline spinner as they fell to the fifth defeat in their past nine home matches, with four draws.

Their leading batsmen also failed, with Babar Azam making only 22 and skipper Shan Masood 14. First innings century-maker Saud Shakeel fell for a fourth-ball duck.

Pakistan trailed by 117 in the first innings and resumed at 23-1, only to lose Masood in the second over to pace bowler Hasan Mahmud. It could have been 28-3 had wicketkeeper Liton Das not dropped a regulation catch off fast bowler Shoriful Islam to give Azam a first-ball reprieve.

Azam hit three delightful boundaries to raise hopes of a Pakistan fightback but was bowled by an inside edge off Nahid Rana for the right-arm paceman’s only wicket of the match.

Shakib, whose participation in the Test drew protests at home over his political ties to ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, had Shakeel stumped and Shafique caught off a miscued shot before lunch.

Agha Salman then fell to off-spinner Mehidy for a first-ball duck, leaving Pakistan in tatters at 105-6. Mehidy then dismissed Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah cheaply in the space of seven runs.

Pakistan won 12 of the previous 13 Tests against Bangladesh, six by an innings, with one draw.

The second and final Test will also be played at Rawalpindi from Friday, with the series part of the World Test Championship (WTC).

Pakistan slumped to eighth in the nine-team WTC table after their defeat, with Bangladesh climbing to sixth.

In a post-match interview, Pakistan skipper Shan Masood said the match “didn’t play the way we thought it would”.

“There were other factors in the game, we lost half a day on the first day [due to rain],” he said. “We have to look upon the mistakes we made collectively and work on them,” the captain said.

“We expected the pitch to do more,” Shan continued. “I thought with three fast bowlers, we would push them to the limit.”

Asked about what the team could have done differently over the past days, Shan said, “Hindsight’s 20/20, the reason behind the declaration was a positive push. We could have done with those runs, but there are some things in the ball and the field we could have done.”

He added that “the cracks have opened up in last night’s session”, commending Bangladesh’s bowling attack. “We have to do better whenever we play next,” he maintained.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated the Bangladesh team for playing “wonderfully” and holding “their ground throughout the match”.

“It is a historic win for they have won against Pakistan for the first time,” Naqvi said in a post on X.

 

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Pakistan and Bangladesh fined for slow over rates in 1st Test​

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and Bangladesh have been fined and docked World Test Championship points over slow over rates...

 

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Pakistan axe Shaheen in bid to square series as Bangladesh eye more history​

Kashif Abbasi
August 30, 2024

A general view of the Pindi Cricket Stadium during rain on Thursday.—Tanveer Shahzad/ White Star

RAWALPINDI: Faced with a must-win challenge, Pakistan in a major move on Thursday axed their pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi for the second and final Test against Bangladesh as the hosts look to avoid a series loss in Rawalpindi.

A Shan Masood-led team with an all-pace bowling attack suffered a stunning 10-wicket loss to Bangladesh — the country’s very first against Bangladesh — on the final day of the first Test at the Pindi Cricket Stadium last Sunday and now face a must-win task in the second Test starting at the same venue on Friday.

Bangladesh on the other hand are looking to record a historic first Test series victory over Pakistan.

Rawalpindi’s rainy weather is likely to affect the second Test as it did in the series opener. Intermittent rain and bad weather in the city prevented both the teams from practising on Thursday.

Jason Gillespie, Pakistan’s red ball coach, said the bowlers would need to embrace a ruthless approach in the final Test.

Addressing a press conference here in Rawalpindi, the former Australian fast bowler announced a 12-member squad, axing Shaheen while including mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed.

A spectacular match-winning performance by Bangladesh spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4-21) and Shakib Al Hasan (3-44) on the last day of the series opener raised several questions over Pakistan team management’s approach of going into that Test without a specialist spinner.

“Our [over] rates were very poor in first Test and that is unacceptable, as simple as that,” Gillespie said adding that the bowlers will play this match with a new approach in order to make an all-out effort to take 20 wickets.

“We want to be ruthless with discipline and line and length. We want to keep going at the [opponent] batsmen. We want to keep hitting good spots on the pitch, challenging the opposition’s defence constantly again and again.”

Commenting on the exclusion of left-armer Shaheen who struggled in the first Test with 2-88 in 30 overs, Gillespie said the 30-Test pacer needed time to spend with his new-born son and rest of the family.

“Obviously, Shaheen will miss out on this Test. We had a good chat with him and he fully understood and appreciated the thinking behind the decision. We are just looking at what our best combination is [for the second Test],” the coach said.

“This decision was made keeping in view both personal and professional factors and Shaheen’s workload. He is a new father and needs good time to spend with the family.”

The Pakistan coach further said that Shaheen was working to improve his bowling to become as effective as possible. “In this regard he has been working very well with assistant coach Azhar Mahmood.”

Shaheen, who made his Test debut in December 2018 against New Zealand at Abu Dhabi, gradually became Pakistan’s frontline paceman across all formats. However, the player’s form has dipped in the past couple of years amid physical fitness (knee) issues.

Since March 2022 to date, Shaheen played nine Test matches taking only 29 wickets at an ordinary average of 36.55 with 4-58 being his best show during this period.

Talking about the batting, Gillespie said that there was a need to play positively.

“It’s about energy, your body language … being busy when batting, getting up to other end, you can score singles and doubles,” he said.

“We have learnt [the] lessons in the first match, we will apply those in this game. We are up for the battle and really looking forward to it. “

Gillespie lauded captain Shan Masood’s approach.

“Shan is a positive captain. He made the [bold] decision of declaring the [first] innings early to win the first Test,” the coach said. “[However] Bangladesh played well and credit to them.

He continued, “Now all the team members will have to take the responsibility. We are well prepared for this Test.”

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe meanwhile sounded upbeat saying his side could repeat heroics from the first Test.

“Obviously beating Pakistan in Pakistan is not an easy task,” he said. “[But] the morale of the players is very, very good,”

Despite a huge 10-wicket win in the first Test, Hathurusinghe said, the second Test would be a major challenge for the visitors.

“They are a very strong team and we expect a very good fight in the second Test as well but we will not be different from the first game and know our strength as well as that of Pakistan’s.”

Hathurusinghe also lauded role of Bangladesh’s bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed, saying his experience significantly helped the team in the first Test.

Since gaining Test status in 2000, Bangladesh have only won two of their 32 away series with victories in West Indies (2009) and Zimbabwe (2021). They lost 27 and drew three.

Bangladesh’s pace attack will be boosted by the return of experienced Taskin Ahmed who recovered from a shoulder injury but will have a tie with Nahid Rana for a place in the final XI.

Pakistan 12-member squad for second Test: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abrar Ahmed, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha.