Pakistan declared at 448/6 in the first innings of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium late on Day 2. However, the move left Mohammad Rizwan stranded on 171*, denying him the chance to register a maiden Test double century.
Pakistan were in a spot of bother at 114/4 before Saud Shakeel and Rizwan joined forces. The duo mixed caution with aggression and stitched a mammoth 240-run partnership off 386 balls to take the hosts to a position of strength. Mehidy Hasan Miraz broke the epic partnership as he dismissed Shakeel for a well-compiled 141 off 261 balls but Rizwan held the fort.
The wicketkeeper-batter kept the scoreboard ticking and stitched crucial partnerships with Agha Salman and Shaheen Afridi to take Pakistan beyond the 400-run mark. However, in the final session, captain Shan Masood declared with Rizwan batting on 171 off 239 balls, hitting 11 fours and three sixes. Some fans were bewildered as they felt the declaration call was taken in haste and denied the experienced campaigner a well-deserved double ton. However, vice-captain Saud Shakeel, who was present at the press conference after the day's play, explained that the 32-year-old was categorically informed about Pakistan's declaration plans well beforehand.
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“See, as far as Rizwan bhai's double century is concerned, I don't think there was a haste in taking the decision (to declare the innings). Because Rizwan bhai was clearly told an hour before that we would be declaring at this point of time. So he had an idea when we will declare. He was told we will try to near 450 before declaring,” Shakeel said at the press conference.
Teams have forgotten 500 used to be a thing, they now declaring at 450.
— tachyphylaxis (@tachyyphylaxis) August 22, 2024
Should have allowed Rizwan to score double century.
Also Read: PAK vs BAN: Mohammad Rizwan becomes fifth Pakistani wicket-keeper batter to register 150-plus score
Openers started cautiously as Bangladesh still trail by 421 runs
Meanwhile, speaking of Bangladesh's first innings, the green top slowly became a belter for batters with the sun beating down. The Bangla Tigers had a tricky passage of play to counter and their openers came out unscathed. In the 12 overs of play that were possible before Stumps, the visitors reached 27 for no loss, still trailing by 421 runs.
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