Reflecting on the team’s performance after a seven-month hiatus from Test cricket, Azhar Mahmood expressed satisfaction with the direction in which the team is heading. He also confirmed that the team would remain unchanged for the second Test. Pakistan’s assistant coach, Azhar Mahmood, expressed optimism following the third day of the ongoing Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.
With Bangladesh trailing by 132 runs at 316/5, Azhar Mahmood emphasized the importance of securing early breakthroughs on the fourth day. Azhar Mahmood believes that if Pakistan can dismiss Bangladesh quickly and gain a lead of around 80 runs, they could create a winning opportunity for themselves.
Bangladesh defiant show with the bat denied Pakistan any advantage in 1st Test
Opener Shadman Islam missed out on a century in his comeback test match as Bangladesh blunted pace-heavy Pakistan’s attack and reached 316-5 at stumps on the third day of the first test on Friday. Shadman, playing his first test match after almost 30 months, made 93 in more than 5 1/2 hours of resilient batting before he was clean bowled by Mohammad Ali (1-42) at the stroke of tea. Bangladesh still trails Pakistan by 132 runs after Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel hit centuries in the home team’s 448-6 declared.
Mushfiqur Rahim (55 not out) and Litton Das (52 not out) are at the crease. They added an enterprising 98 runs in the latter half of the first session. Both batters stood firm against Shaheen Shah Afridi (0-55) and Naseem Shah (1-77), who couldn’t separate the two with the second new ball late on Day 3.
Litton Das reached his fifty off 52 balls when he struck three fours and a pulled six in Shah’s over. Mushfiqur Rahim also made a well composed half century in his first test after 10 months.
The Rawalpindi pitch behavior surprises Azhar Mahmood
Figuring out how to make this Rawalpindi surface offer something to the fast bowlers has become something of a minor obsession in Pakistan cricket. Until recently, it was considered the most seam-friendly ground in Pakistan, playing host to a thrilling Test against South Africa that saw between 200 and 300 runs scored in each of the four innings as 40 wickets fell. Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali took nine of the 10 wickets in the fourth innings on a pitch that maintained its pace until deep into the fifth day.
But ever since former PCB chairman Ramiz Raza admitted Pakistan had neutered the wicket for the first Test against Australia in 2022 to draw the sting out of the visitors’ pace attack, it has never been quite the same. Only 14 wickets fell in that entire Test, and a similarly bland surface saw England pile up over 500 runs on a truncated first day.
Pakistan brought in Australian curator Tony Hemmings ahead of this season to work on the pitches. At a glance, this wicket had plenty of grass on it before the start of this Test, leading Pakistan to believe it would provide more pace and bounce. But this Test, which has seen just 15 wickets in three days despite a Bangladesh batting line-up that is statistically suspect against high pace, has followed a similar pattern to those two.
Pakistan assistant coach Azhar Mahmood admitted the behavior of the Rawalpindi surface took the team by surprise. Mahmood said Pakistan believed they had prepared the sort of pitch to aid seam bowling, but there was little evidence of that in the way the third day played out.
Azhar Mahmood surprised by Rawalpindi’s surface after day 3 of PAK vs BAN 1st Test
Pakistan’s assistant coach Azhar Mahmood has expressed his surprise at the way the surface in Rawalpindi behaved on Day 3 of the first Test against Bangladesh. The former all-rounder also said Pakistan didn’t misread the wicket, but it didn’t behave the way they expected. Bangladesh started the day at 27-0 after Pakistan had declared their innings on 448/6. While the hosts got wickets in patches, they failed to wrest enough control to have a chance of a win as Bangladesh reached 316/5 at stumps.
Speaking at a presser after Day 3 (August 23), Mahmood stated that the wicket dried out very quickly, rendering their seamer-heavy attack ineffective. As quoted by ESPN Cricinfo, he said:
“The reason we didn’t play a spinner was there was grass on the pitch and we thought it would favour the seamers. We were hoping for that. But the three hours the pitch was sunned before the game started on the first day may have made a difference. The wicket dried out; we didn’t think it would dry out so quickly, and that made it play differently.”
The 49-year-old elaborated that any team would have played more seamers looking at the pitch, saying:
“Anyone who looked at the wicket would have thought it would be a seaming track. We can’t do anything about the fact it didn’t behave that way. We didn’t make a mistake reading the pitch, it just didn’t play like we thought it should.”
Pakistan seemed to be regaining control of the game when Saim Ayub dismissed Shakib Al Hasan cheaply. Nevertheless, Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim stitched an unbroken 98-run stand to cut down the deficit significantly.
Azhar Mahmood admitted that Pakistan’s bowling was not upto the mark
Azhar Mahmood also felt Pakistan’s indiscipline allowed Bangladesh to play aggressively, explaining:
“We were not disciplined enough in the last 12 overs. If you assess the overall day, we were great in 80 overs. With the second new ball, we strayed from the plan. Then they attacked. We allowed them to play that type of cricket. But you can also score runs easier off the new ball, and they utilized that to great effect.”
Pakistan’s bowlers must pick up the last five wickets quickly and the batters need to bat aggressively to stand a chance of taking a lead in the two-match series.