Forgetting the Regret of Multan: Bangladesh Made History at Rawalpindi

Very few or none anticipated such a result before the Ban vs Pak test match started! For Bangladesh, this win is a milestone, not just for winning a test match against Pakistan for the first time but somewhat a comeback that was mainly needed when the whole nation was on the way to reforming the country and all its institutions, including cricket, the country’s most popular sport.

Let’s see how all these happened and how Bangladesh secured this dominating victory over mighty Pakistan!

How the Match Went from the Beginning

Bangladesh might have yet to target a win when the match started. A draw could have been a happy result for Bangladesh. It is also noteworthy that Bangladesh didn’t win any matches in the current Test Championship.

Besides, the team had gone to Pakistan earlier since there was no way to run the campaign in the country because of political instability, so they started it in Pakistan. Additionally, Nazmul Hossain Papon, the regular face in the gallery during any Bangladesh series, was not there as he resigned amid the venerability.

Rain Delay on The First Day

Both teams had to wait hours for the toss. The delay was annoying and confused both teams when setting their strategies. However, after more than three hours, the toss was in action, Bangladesh won and didn’t hesitate to bowl first. The pitch was grassy, which means that the pace bowlers were in focus during the early stage of the wicket. The overcast condition was supposed to help Bangladeshi pace bowlers.

Pakistan’s First Innings

The beginning was a disaster for Pakistan, as Bangladesh could grab three wickets within just 16 runs. Liton’s brilliant catch of Babar Azam, one of Pakistan’s key players, was also shocking for them. However, they quickly recovered from the shock and started building partnerships with dominance over the bowlers. Saud Shakeel’s century with Rizwan carried the innings to a convincing stage.

Pakistan declared the innings when the score was 448 for only six wickets, and Rizwan was on the crease with an unbeaten 171 runs. Shaheen Afridi was playing aggressively at that time with 29 off 24 balls, too, which indicated that Pakistan was quickly moving to the five-hundred run mark.

However, the decision to declare came at that time, which was assumed to be aggressive. Pakistan probably expected a dominating bowling to end the Bangladesh innings as soon as possible.

Bangladesh First Innings

Bangladesh made a cautious start. At the end of the 2^nd day, their score was 27 without any loss.  However, the first wicket went on 31 runs, and the second was on 53. At this point, most Bangladeshi cricket fans could have thought of another very ordinary innings from Bangladesh where their team would struggle to avoid follow-on first.

But, Mominul Haque made the first defense with a half century. After Shakib’s early departure, Liton and Mushfique played the most crucial knock of the innings, which regained the hopes for Bangladesh to dream big! Liton was much more aggressive, getting eighteen runs in just one over of Naseem Shah!

However, he couldn’t carry for long on the fourth day while Mushfique and Mehedy Miraz played another crucial partnership. Unfortunately, Mushfique lost concentration in 191 runs and missed the opportunity to score a double hundred. Miraz’s 74 also contributed a lot.

Thus, with a complete team effort, Bangladesh ended their innings at 565 runs by losing all wickets, which resulted in a 117-run lead for Bangladesh.

Pakistan’s Second Innings

Pakistan fans probably wanted a quick run-scoring attitude from their favorite team. But Bangladesh bowlers were performing brilliantly. Pakistan ended the 4^th day with 23 runs for losing one wicket.

During the test match, the news came from Bangladesh that Shakib Al Hasan had been accused of a murder case and a legal notice to go back home immediately! This is something you can rarely see in the sports world. But, with this much pressure, Shakib started bowling so well, which surprised most of the audience on the field.

Even on the grassy wicket, he was turning the ball so well that he got three crucial wickets to close the innings of Pakistan early. Mehedy Miraz, after scoring seventy-four, showed his brilliance with the ball. With the expense of only 21 runs, he took four wickets of Pakistan!

For Pakistan, no one could play convincingly except Rizwan, who continued his effort just like in the first innings. But with wickets falling one after another on the other side, even avoiding the innings defeat for Pakistan seemed impossible at one point. Even Liton’s missed catch of Babar Azam didn’t help! In the end, Pakistan could score only 146, which means Bangladesh needed only 30 runs to win the match when around three hours were still in hand. 

Bangladesh’s Historic Second Innings

Nothing unexpected happened. Bangladesh didn’t collapse, and there was no rain. Bangladesh made no mistakes and scored 30 runs without losing any wickets. Zakir Hossain’s 15 and Shadman’s 9 made it finally for Bangladesh!

How This Match Remembered the Memory of the Multan Test in 2003

After winning this match, Bangladeshi fans mentioned another game against Pakistan in 2003, which was held in Multan. But why remember that? Khaled Mahmud Sujon, a Bangladesh team member from that time, revealed his feelings about that match as it was a match where Bangladesh was supposed to win but couldn’t in the end.

Inzamam-Ul-Haque played till the end, and Pakistan won by one wicket. After the game, many people saw a photo of Khaled Mahmud with tears. That was the only time Bangladesh was so close to a win against Pakistan. However, this time, Rizwan would likely be someone like Inzamam who could restore the same result. However, history didn’t repeat itself this time!

Final Words

Pakistan made several mistakes in this match, which cost them a loss against Bangladesh, who are not in good form and don’t have a convincing record in Test cricket. The team selection with too much focus on pacers, declaring the innings earlier, poor line and length of the bowlers, and many others are areas to work on.

However, one match remains in this two-match series where a win from Pakistan could level the series, which Pakistan is expecting the most now. On the other hand, Bangladesh is expecting another win to seal the series against Pakistan, which could be another part of Bangladesh’s history!