Rawalpindi: Bangladesh are hoping to secure a first Test-series victory over Pakistan, who have left out star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi for the second match starting in Rawalpindi on Friday.
The visitors upset a normally formidable home team with a clinical ten-wicket display in the first Test — Bangladesh’s first win in over 14 encounters against Pakistan.
But the hosts have been struggling through a lean spell of late, bowing out early in this year’s T20 World Cup. Their last Test series was a whitewash in a three-match tour to Australia.
Star pacer Afridi struggled to find his rhythm through much of the innings, with Pakistan’s head coach Jason Gillespie saying he will be rested to allow him to spend time with his new-born son and family.
“Obviously Shaheen will miss out on this game. We had a good conversation with him and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. We are just looking at what our best combination is for this game,” Gillespie said.
The home team have recalled spinner Abrar Ahmed after going with an all-pace attack in the first Test.
Former Australian pacer Gillespie admitted it will be a challenge to square the series.
“We want to go out there and play positive,” said Gillespie, who is in his first series with Pakistan. “It’s about scoring lots of singles and with our bowling we want to be ruthless and challenging the opposition batters.”
But he backed under-pressure skipper Shan Masood who failed with the bat with six and 14 in the first match, and has lost all four of his Tests as captain.
“Shan is a very positive captain,” said Gillespie.
“He wants to play and win games .... we showed that with our intent in the first game but it didn’t quite work out and that’s credit to our opposition.
“That game is gone, but what we can do is focus on the game starting tomorrow.
Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe was confident his side could recreate their heroics from the first Test.
“The morale of the players is very, very good,” said former Sri Lankan batsmen Hathurusinghe.
“Obviously beating Pakistan in Pakistan is not an easy task.”
Pakistan were rattled by the Bangladesh response to their first-innings total of 448-6, crumbling for a paltry 146 in their second outing.
A brilliant 191 by veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim on a flat Rawalpindi pitch helped the visitors rack up their highest-ever total against Pakistan of 565 to take a crucial 117-run first-innings lead.
Spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz (4-21) and Shakib Al Hasan (3-44) then rocked the hosts and made them rue not playing a frontline spinner.
But Hathurusinghe said the second game would be a big challenge.
“They are a very strong team and we expect a very good fight in the second Test as well but we will not be different from the first game and know our strength as well as that of Pakistan’s.”
Since gaining Test status in 2000, Bangladesh have only won two of their 32 overseas series with wins in the West Indies (2009) and Zimbabwe (2021), drawing three and losing 27.
Bangladesh’s pace attack will be boosted by the return of experienced Taskin Ahmed who recovered from a shoulder injury but will have a tie with Nahid Rana for a place in the eleven.
Intermittent rain and bad weather in Rawalpindi prevented both teams from having a practice session.
Bangladesh eye maiden series win against Afridi-less Pakistan as second Test starts today
https://arab.news/gb249
Bangladesh eye maiden series win against Afridi-less Pakistan as second Test starts today
- Bangladesh upset a normally formidable home team with a clinical ten-wicket display in the first Test
- Pakistan have been struggling through a lean spell of late, bowing out early in this year’s T20 World Cup
India has told Pakistan to control ‘drone intrusions,’ Indian army chief says
- Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi says at least eight drones from Pakistani have been sighted since Saturday
- Ties between nuclear-armed neighbors have been frozen since May last year when both sides engaged in fierce fighting
NEW DELHI: India’s army chief said on Tuesday that the head of Pakistan’s military operations had been told to control what he said were drone intrusions from Pakistan into India, months after the nuclear-armed rivals engaged in their worst fighting in decades.
An Indian military source said there were five drone intrusions on Sunday evening on the frontier in the Jammu region of Indian Kashmir.
In another incident on Friday, a drone from Pakistan was suspected to have dropped two pistols, three ammunition magazines, 16 bullets and one grenade that were recovered following a search, the source said.
Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi said at least eight drones had been sighted since Saturday.
“These drones, I believe, were defensive drones, which want to go up and see if any action was being taken,” Dwivedi told reporters at an annual press conference ahead of Army Day on January 15.
“It’s possible they also wanted to see if there were any gaps, any laxity in the Indian army, any gaps through which they could send terrorists,” he said, adding that the directors of military operations of the two sides spoke by phone on Tuesday.
“This matter was discussed ... today and they have been told that this is unacceptable to us, and please put a stop to it. This has been conveyed to them,” Dwivedi said.
Indian media reports cited army officials as saying the incursions were by military drones.
There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan to his comments.
MAY CONFLICT WAS WORST IN DECADES
Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been frozen since a four-day conflict in May, their worst in decades, that was sparked after a militant
attack on Hindu tourists in Kashmir killed 26 men. New Delhi said the attack was backed by Pakistan, allegations which Islamabad denied.
The two sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and heavy artillery, killing dozens on both sides before agreeing to a ceasefire.
In the past, there have been reports of civilian drone intrusions from Pakistan into Indian states along the border, with Indian security agencies telling local media that they had shot down drones that were seeking to drop light arms or drugs.
Pakistan has dismissed these accusations as baseless and misleading.
India also accuses Pakistan of helping what it says are “terrorists” to enter into the Indian side of Kashmir, where tens of thousands of people have been killed in a revolt against New Delhi’s rule that began in 1989 and lasted decades until the violence ebbed.
Pakistan denies the Indian accusations and says that it only provides political and diplomatic support to Kashmiris fighting against New Delhi.
