Bangladesh Secures Historic 1st Test Triumph Against Pakistan with Mushfiqur and Mehidy Shining
Bangladesh Achieves Landmark Victory Over Pakistan in First Test Match at Rawalpindi.
Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz led Bangladesh to their first-ever Test victory against Pakistan in an exciting contest that will go down in Bangladeshi cricket history. The ten-wicket victory was a historic one, particularly as Bangladesh had only won two Test matches abroad in the previous seven years.
Key Performances and Match Scorecard
Bangladesh 565 (Mushfiqur 191, Naseem 3-93) and 30 for 0 (Zakir 15*) beat Pakistan 448 for 6 dec (Rizwan 171*, Shakeel 141) and 146 (Rizwan 51, Mehidy 4-21, Shakib 3-44) by 10 wickets.
A motivated Bangladesh bowling unit rode on the confidence Mushfiqur Rahim’s 191 had put into their camp on the fourth day to skittle Pakistan for 146 on the fifth, and hand them a fifth loss in a string of nine winless home Tests. While Pakistan have not won a Test at home since February 2021 against South Africa, this was Bangladesh’s maiden Test triumph over Pakistan – a ten-wicket win to boot – and a rare one away from home. They have only won two Test matches away from home in the previous seven years going into this match.
The last day was all about romping to victory, if the fourth day was about Bangladesh gradually tightening their hold on the match. Following the removal of three of the top four Pakistani batsmen by the fast bowlers, the ball began to turn more than it had on Saturday, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan shared the final seven wickets.
Shakib suppressed with his stump-to-stump lines from both sides of the wicket, Nahid Rana, a young fast bowler, picked up pace to over 150 kmph to trap Babar Azam, and Mehidy hit with his quick offbreaks to frequently create uncomfortable situations and opportunity to take wickets.
Bangladesh chased down the runs in 6.3 overs after Pakistan, mainly led by Mohammad Rizwan’s 51, set them a meagre 30 to win in the second session.
The ball wasn’t swinging as much as it had the night before, but Bangladesh’s quicks laid the stage for their victory in the opening session. Shan Masood was out early after he edged Hasan Mahmud to the wicketkeeper on the fourth day, after Saim Ayub had already been removed. After a spike on UltraEdge, Bangladesh reviewed and saw the decision reversed, even though the on-field umpire had not given it out.
When Babar Azam edged his second delivery, angling away from him to the keeper, the score was 28 for 2. However, Litton Das was unable to hold on to the opportunity to his right, and Babar survived two deliveries.
With a few runs and boundaries, he gained confidence, but Nahid saw his poor footwork and planned his downfall. He frequently hit Babar with short balls that traveled faster than 145 kmph, forcing him to bat on the back foot. However, when he pitched one up outside off, Babar’s feet failed to adjust rapidly enough, allowing him to chop on for 22 thanks to his drive. That began the run of wickets that was only momentarily stopped by Rizwan’s counterattacking innings prior to the lunch break.
To negate Shakib’s turn, Saud Shakeel went forward, but he missed and was left stranded for a duck. With little over three overs remaining before lunch, a patient Abdullah Shafique eventually gave away his wicket. He tried a crazy shot over mid-off, but at backward moment he gave Shadman Islam the upper hand. After two balls, Mehidy teased Agha Salman by drawing him forward with a luring offbreak and then dragged his edge, but Shadman again took a brilliant catch at slip.
Between, Rizwan removed a significant portion of the 50-run disadvantage he had when he stepped out by hitting four boundaries on either side of the wicket. He hit a hat-trick of fours to attack a little fatigued Nahid.
In the next over, he slog swept for another boundary, bringing the total runs scored off the two overs to 26. However, Salman’s dismissal forced him to control his instincts, and once Shaheen Shah Afridi was caught in front by a Mehidy delivery that barely bounced, he farmed the strike after lunch.
At that point, Pakistan was 111 for 7, still six behind. They got ahead, but Naseem Shah quickly gave a catch to midwicket, and Rizwan assumed responsibility for establishing some kind of lead with his ninth half-century in Test cricket. Throughout his innings, he was hitting the ball hard, which led to his wicket when he chopped off Mehidy, who also trapped Mohammad Ali to finish the hosts off.
Then, Shadman and Zakir Hasan made sure Bangladesh crossed the finish line unharmed. With a sweep down to the empty fine-leg fence, Zakir hit the winning runs after hitting three fours in his 14 balls.
Masood Reflects on Pakistan’s Mistakes After Historic Test Defeat to Bangladesh
Pakistan was deeply disappointed by their first Test defeat to Bangladesh, and captain Shan Masood acknowledged that his team had committed “a lot of mistakes” throughout the series. Bangladesh, driven by spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, rolled over Pakistan for 146, setting up a 30-run goal and securing a thrilling ten-wicket victory on the final day, following four rather attritional days in which just 17 wickets dropped.
The captain of Pakistan also mentioned that “as well as the way we didn’t manage to hold our nerve with the ball cost us.”
“As a team, we made a lot of mistakes over the four days and Bangladesh were worthy winners,” Masood stated. “They batted with a great deal of discipline. We also offered them some opportunities during Mehidy and Mushfiqur’s [Rahim’s] game. The second new ball was the bowling unit where we lost the match. We may have failed ourselves there by forcing ourselves upon the game.”
After the third day, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood also brought up that particular play. Bangladesh had lost half of their side by the time they reached the 82-over mark with 239 runs. However, when Pakistan got the new ball in the last ten overs of the day, they took advantage of some careless bowling and amassed 67 runs in that stretch of play to turn the tide in their favor.
Over the third and fourth days, as the pitch flattened out further, Bangladesh reached and eventually exceeded Pakistan’s first innings total. When they reached 448 for 6, the host team brought in Shaheen Shah Afridi and Muhammad Rizwan, which gave Bangladesh, who batted to the last man, a 117-run advantage. It was only the third time in Test history that a team that was down six or fewer wickets at the end of the first innings yet lost the match.
“If you asked me now, we would have liked another 50-100 runs,” said Masood. That would have continued the game for us. Additionally, the weather was predicted to cause disruptions during the game. That was also our thinking when we made the proclamation. In the first innings, we only lost six wickets. If we had continued to bat, we easily could have scored between 550 and 600. However, we also failed ourselves today with the bat.”
Masood also upheld Pakistan’s united front in opposition to an all-out assault. Masood cited workload and the kind of surface they anticipated, even though Pakistan’s historical squad selection has only included an all-pace attack once in the last 28 years, making the lack of a specialist spinner an unusual.
“I don’t want to be commenting on day five because we didn’t expect the game to hold up for four or five days,” Masood stated. “It puts a lot of strain on the fast bowlers when you play three of them in these weather. The spinner is likely bowling 30 overs if you are playing him or her.” He did, however, seem to contradict himself later on, admitting that Pakistan may have hurried their announcement because they thought there might be disrupting weather during the game.
In Bangladesh’s opening innings, Pakistan’s part-time spinners dismissed 50 overs, a workload that a specialist spinner might have easily taken up to a comparable degree.
“Considering the severe weather, the fast bowler was played so that we could assist one another in sharing the workload. Pakistan had not played Test cricket for ten months, and neither Naseem nor Shaheen had done so in a long time. “Why didn’t we play that fourth fast bowler?” might have been our thought if we had used three fast bowlers and lost one due to injury.
However, the all-pace attack did not work out, despite the notion that it would be the easiest path to 20 wickets. The final total bowled by Pakistan’s quicks was 117.3 overs, which was the second-highest total for the fast bowling unit in the past 20 years.
Masood did lament Aamer Jamal’s injury, saying that his versatility might have allowed a spin bowler to take up an extra spot. As Masood once observed, “Hindsight is always 20/20; you have to look at the full balance of the side, but you can always fit the spinner in.” Seven batsmen who can bat correctly and four front-line bowlers who can use a little extra assistance are needed.”
Though he thought his team should never have allowed the game to get to that point, he acknowledged that Bangladesh’s spinners were helpful on the last day. “Even their spinners were only useful on the fifth day,” he stated.
As a team, we had numerous chances to eliminate spin from the game using bat and ball. When we were leading by 200 runs and half of their team was out, we had time to put some pressure on them. We used that brilliantly, as you can see by the way we bowled the third new ball, which allowed us to quickly get their final four out. We lost because of the second fresh ball and our inability to remain composed when using the ball.”
Masood made the observation that Pakistan never grabbed two wickets in quick succession to put Bangladesh under any meaningful strain, and that it took Pakistan three days and three new balls to eventually force them out of their first innings. He praised Bangladesh’s discipline and highlighted to crucial moments in the innings that changed the outcome.
“In the end, everything was determined by the outcomes of the first two innings. I believed that there were several chances that we could have seized, giving us a slight advantage and the ability to exert pressure on Bangladesh rather than the other way around. We were also a little unfortunate in other ways. While many of Bangladesh’s inside edges raced away for four, some of our players inside-edged the ball onto the stumps. It is those kinds of margins that are out of your control.
“We were the ones that were most proactive throughout the first four days; we tried to make judgments, declared very early, and scored points more quickly. When the game is over and you lose, such things mean nothing. They deserve credit for their excellent discipline, though. Each squad has their unique style of play. That doesn’t imply that one is better than the other; the key is to select one that works for you and stick with it. Everybody plays differently, and Bangladesh brought their A game, which made it difficult for us to deal with.”
Masood is familiar with Pakistani cricket, so he is aware of the harm this loss will do to this Test team. “Everyone is angry. The whole nation is upset. As a leader of this team, we apologise to the nation for failing to provide them the result they wanted. As a team, we embrace our mistakes.”
But there’s no indication that any panic buttons will be pressed. Masood seemed content with his choice to field an all-pace attack, although he did not rule out Abrar Ahmed returning for the second Test, stating that it would depend on the ground and weather.
“Even if you lose, it doesn’t mean you’ve done everything wrong,” he stated. “On the first four days, we were the ones that were very proactive, we were trying to take decisions, we declared quite early, we scored at a quicker rate, at around four runs an over.”
However, as he remarked sarcastically, “those things don’t count when you lose the game at the end of the day.”
