Pakistan cricket suffered a new low as they lost to Bangladesh for the first time in Test cricket on Sunday in Rawalpindi. With this 10-wicket win, Bangladesh have taken an unassailable lead in the two-match Test series.
Pakistan and Bangladesh had played 13 Test matches before this game, out of which Pakistan won 12 and one game was drawn.
This loss has left everyone with a spate of questions. Two of the biggest are about picking an all-pace attack and not picking spinner Abrar Ahmed while Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 7 of Pakistan’s 10 wickets in their second innings; and Pakistan’s decision to declare their first innings at 448/6 with Mohammad Rizwan batting at 171*.
Explaining the decision to pick four pacers and no spinner, captain Shan Masood reasoned that the pitch “didn’t play the way we thought it would.” He pointed at the weather in the lead-up to the game, and the workload of playing three pacers. “At the end of the day, we got it wrong,” Masood admitted the selection blunder. He could have done well to hail the opposition as well.
Scrutiny on the Pakistan team aside, it’s time to hail the Bangladesh cricket team, for whom the ongoing turmoil at home would have been at the back of their minds as well.
Veteran Mushfiqur Rahim stood like a strong wall in their first innings with his knock of 191 runs off 341 balls. Others made hefty contributions too: Shadman Islam with 93, Liton Das with 56, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz with 77. Bangladesh scored 565 in their first innings, finishing with a 117-run lead with one hour remaining on day 4, and virtually batted Pakistan out of the game.
At the end of day four, Shoriful Islam struck with Saim Ayub’s wicket. The game moved rapidly into Bangladesh’s pocket in the first session on day 5, when the hosts lost five wickets. The wickets continued to tumble at the start of the second session, and Pakistan were bowled out for 146 runs, setting Bangladesh a target of only 30 runs for a historic win.
It took 6.3 overs in their second innings for the Bangladeshi openers to seal one of the most memorable victories in their Test cricket history.
This, obviously, led to huge trolling and criticism of the Pakistan team and their management.
Fans troll the Pakistan team after first-ever Test match loss against Bangladesh:
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