In the second Test against Bangladesh, Pakistan faced an early setback as they lost Abdullah Shafique in the first over. Despite this, Shan Masood and Saim Ayub showed resilience, guiding Pakistan to 100 for 1 at lunch on day two in Rawalpindi.
After the first day was washed out due to rain, Saturday morning brought clear skies and warm weather. With moisture still present in the pitch, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto opted to bowl first in the now four-day Test.
Taskin Ahmed, returning from a shoulder injury, made an immediate impact. He bowled five outswingers to Shafique before getting the final ball of the over to seam back sharply. Shafique, caught off guard, left a gap between his bat and pad and was bowled through it.
Taskin, along with Hasan Mahmud, initially kept Ayub under control by bowling predominantly from around the wicket. Ayub struggled early on, scoring just 4 runs off his first 25 balls. However, he soon found his rhythm, hitting three boundaries in the next 11 balls. Meanwhile, Masood adopted an aggressive approach from the start, helping the pair reach a fifty partnership in just 68 balls.
While the Bangladesh seamers managed to create some opportunities, none of them resulted in further wickets. Nahid Rana managed to hit Masood on the thumb with a short ball, but when he tried the same tactic against Ayub, the latter responded with a six over deep square leg.
As the session progressed, the pitch began to ease, and Masood brought up his half-century just before lunch, taking 54 balls to reach the milestone. Notably, most of his runs came through quick singles, with only two boundaries in his first 50 runs.
At the toss, Masood mentioned that Pakistan had “rested” Naseem Shah for this match. With Shaheen Shah Afridi also sitting out, Pakistan’s four frontline bowlers collectively had just 16 Tests of experience, with legspinner Abrar Ahmed, having played six, being the most seasoned among them.
As the second session approaches, Bangladesh will not only be aiming for early breakthroughs but also need to keep an eye on their over rate, having bowled only 25 overs in the first two hours and 15 minutes.
