RAWALPINDI: Mushfiqur Rahim recorded the highest individual score by a Bangladesh batter in Pakistan and helped push his team into the lead in the first Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
The 37-year-old was unbeaten on 173 for his 11th Test century, defying the Pakistan pace attack as Bangladesh reached 495-6 at tea.
The visitors are now 47 runs ahead of Pakistan’s first innings total of 448-6 declared, and have an outside chance of capturing their first win over Pakistan.
Bangladesh have lost 12 of 13 Tests against Pakistan, with one draw.
Mushfiqur overtook the previous highest individual score of 119 by Javed Omar, scored in Peshawar in 2003, and was lucky to get a life on 150 when Babar Azam dropped him off Salman Agha at leg slip.
Mushfiqur has so far struck 20 boundaries and a six in a marathon eight-hour, 10-minute knock, setting a Bangladesh record of 163 for the unbroken seventh wicket with Miraz in all Test cricket.
The previous record of 145 was set by Shakib Al Hasan and Mahmudullah Riyadh against New Zealand in Hamilton in 2010.
The Rawalpindi pitch continued to support batting as Bangladesh lost only Liton Das (56) in the two sessions, with Mushfiqur anchoring the batting.
He added 114 for the sixth wicket with Liton to lift Bangladesh.
Before Liton’s dismissal, Pakistan thought they had Mushfiqur leg-before by pace bowler Mohammad Ali but umpire Richard Kettleborough’s verdict was overturned on review when the replay showed the ball missing leg stump.
Mushfiqur, then on 59, went on to hit two boundaries off both Khurram Shahzad and Saim Ayub before reaching the three-figure mark.
Resuming at 316-5 Bangladesh lost Liton in the ninth over of the day when Naseem Shah’s short delivery caught an edge and wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan took an easy catch.
Liton added just four to his overnight score of 52, hitting eight boundaries and a six.
For Pakistan, Shahzad (2-81) and Naseem (2-92) were the pick of the bowlers.
The second and final Test will also be played in Rawalpindi, from August 30.
Mushfiqur’s epic gives Bangladesh lead over Pakistan in first Test
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Mushfiqur’s epic gives Bangladesh lead over Pakistan in first Test
- The 37-year-old was unbeaten on 173 for his 11th Test century, defying Pakistan pace attack
- The Bangladesh side is now 47 runs ahead of Pakistan’s first innings total of 448-6 declared
Security forces kill four militants in Pakistan’s volatile southwest, military says
- Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency
- The Balochistan government has recently established a threat assessment center to strengthen early warning, prevent ‘terrorism’ incidents
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces gunned down four militants in an intelligence-based operation in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday.
The operation was conducted in Balochistan’s Kalat district on reports about the presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
The “Indian-sponsored militants” were killed in an exchange of fire during the operation, while weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased, who remained actively involved in numerous militant activities.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
There was no immediate response from New Delhi to the statement.
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by land area bordering Iran and Afghanistan, has long been the site of a low-level insurgency involving Baloch separatist groups, including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF).
Pakistan accuses India of supporting these separatist militant groups and describes them as “Fitna Al-Hindustan.” New Delhi denies the allegation.
The government in Balochistan has also established a state-of-the-art threat assessment center to strengthen early warning and prevention against “terrorism” incidents, a senior official said this week.
“Information that was once scattered is now shared and acted upon in time, allowing the state to move from reacting after incidents to preventing them before they occur,” Balochistan Additional Chief Secretary Hamza Shafqaat wrote on X.
The development follows a steep rise in militancy-related deaths in Pakistan in 2025. According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) last month, combat-related deaths in 2025 rose 73 percent to 3,387.
These included 2,115 militants, 664 security forces personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees, the think tank said.
