Bangladesh Whitewashed Pakistan: A Historic Series Ended with Incredible Records

Bangladesh Cricket

Before this series between Bangladesh and Pakistan, someone could barely imagine such a result, though it happened in the end! The cricket world now appreciates Bangladeshi cricketers’ brilliant performance throughout the series, especially how they kept trying with a “Never Give Up” attitude. While there are some outstanding individual performances, the credit undoubtedly goes to the whole team for performing wholeheartedly throughout the series. 

After successfully winning the first and first-ever test against Pakistan, another win was like the dream the Bangladesh Tigers had made possible. With this one, Bangladesh has ranked in the 4th position at the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, which is the best one so far for this country.  

The Drama Before the Series Began!

Not that the Bangladesh team had many new faces, but there was a refreshing change in ambiance as the sudden fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime turmoiled the environment. Consequently, Nazmul Hossain Papon, the ten BCB president, resigned from his position. 

Shakib Al Hasan, one of the finest performers of Bangladesh in all formats, came to play when he was accused of a murder case filed in the country. This is the first time in Bangladesh that a player is playing an international match with a murder allegation. 

But the Tigers didn’t let these things distract them and performed so well in the first match, which gifted them a ten-wicket win against Pakistan. With Taskin included in the squad, the second test was a big test for them to maintain consistency. 

The Threat of Rain from the Beginning

Rawalpindi, the venue of both tests, is one of the most rain-affected places in Pakistan, and rain delay was present during the first test as well.  In the second test match, the rain was from the beginning, expected, and it washed out the play for an entire day of the second test, where it did not allow a ball to be bowled, which could have upset the fans. 

However, on the second day of this Test match, which was decided by toss, Bangladesh won, and Nazmul Hossain Shanto did not give a second to think and bowled first from the assumption that the pitch had been done partly for some reason. Though batting the fourth innings is always challenging, the Bangladesh batters have already shown their ability to take that challenge! 

Pakistan First Innings

Abdullah Shafique’s early dismissal by Taskin got Pakistan into trouble in the first session. However, Saim Ayub and Shan Masood crossed the fifty-run mark and made a 107-run partnership. Though Mohammad Rizwan, one of the top performers of Pakistan in the first test, couldn’t do much this time, all the team batters tried to contribute, finally reaching a reasonable total. 

Pakistan

Salman Ali Agha, the young allrounder of Pakistan, scored 54, which could have helped much, but the performance from tailenders was too poor to expect much. 

Mehedi Miraz played a crucial role for Bangladesh with his five wickets in a pace bowling-friendly track! While Hasan Mahmud remained wicketless, Taskin’s destructive bowling got three essential wickets for Pakistan. 

Bangladesh First Innings

Batting collapses are not new to Bangladesh; fans who have followed cricket for a long time can confirm it. But losing six wickets within 26 runs is not so usual! Pakistan’s pace bowling unit is historically sound; this time, it became lethal to destroy Bangladesh’s batting lineup.  At this stage, a follow-on and a defeat were assumed to be a matter of time only. But this match preserved too many surprises for the audience. 

After Shakib Al Hasan’s departure, Liton Das and Mehedi Miraz were the last hope to save Bangladesh’s image, and these two took that responsibility very seriously. Surprising everyone, they carried the innings for a long time, and both got their fifties very comfortably. Yet, when Mehedi Miraz lost his wicket at 78, the situation became tough for Bangladesh again. 

However, Liton Das again showed his class with the red ball and got his fourth century, keeping Hasan Mahmud, the specialist bowler, on the other end. However, after he stopped at 138, Bangladesh couldn’t last long and ended their first innings, staying only twelve runs behind. 

Pakistan 2nd Innings 

Pakistan’s most challenging job began at this time. It was the afternoon of the third day, and Pakistan lost two wickets within an hour! On the fourth day, Pakistan put in an all-out effort to survive as long as possible, as two days were enough to get a result. However, they couldn’t form partnerships as expected. Apart from Ali Agha’s 47 and Mohammad Rizwan’s 43, no one could show any promise to build solid innings like Miraz and Liton did with their innings. 

Bangladesh bowling attack is always a combination of spinners and pacers, where spinners take charge most of the time. But, surprisingly, the pacers took all the ten wickets of Pakistan this time! Hasan Mahmud, who couldn’t take any wickets in the first innings, got five this time! The new speed start, Nahid Rana, took four, which is also his career highest! The astonishing bowling attack restricted Pakistan to 172 only, which gave Bangladesh a target of only 185 to have more a day in hand!  

Bangladesh 2nd Innings to Create History

Everyone was thinking of the batting collapse in the first innings, as anything similar would have made Bangladesh lose this very comfortable match. On the fourth day, Bangladesh didn’t lose any wickets, and the game was interrupted again by rain. 

The fifth day went well for Bangladesh, though there was always a threat of rain. Though Bangladesh lost four wickets, each batter reached a two-digit score, while Zakir scored the highest forty runs. However, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan, the two most experienced fellows, clinched the victory over Bangladesh in two consecutive matches and whitewashed Pakistan for the first time in history!  

Final Thoughts

This match is not just a win for Bangladesh but a history they made to proudly present themselves to the world. After gaining the test status in 2001, this was one of the rarest moments when Bangladesh performed so well! Let’s see how Bangladesh keeps the momentum and how they perform in the coming matches. Remember that the next series is with India; more exciting events are to come. 

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