RAWALPINDI: Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto believed his team’s first test cricket series win over Pakistan will give his compatriots reason to smile amid ongoing difficulties.
The recent civil unrest that toppled Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid caused Bangladesh to be stripped of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup, and in the past week the country has been hit by deadly flash floods that have affected millions of people.
“For the last one and a half months, everyone (in Bangladesh) has struggled a lot,” Shanto said after Bangladesh beat Pakistan by six wickets in the second test on the last day Tuesday.
“We all know cricket is a very emotional thing in our country, so I hope they will get some smiles because we’ve won the series.”
Bangladesh followed an epic 10-wicket victory in the first test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with a comeback win in the second test on the same ground.
Bangladesh was 26-6 in its first innings but Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz batted them to just a 12-run deficit. Then the fast bowlers dismissed Pakistan for 172 and Bangladesh reached the winning target of 185 in 56 overs.
“The belief in the dressing room is very different this time,” Shanto said. “We were nervous (at 26-6) but the way Litton and Miraz batted … we believed that those guys will take us to a good position.”
Shanto was impressed with the work ethic of young fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, who shared nine wickets in the second innings.
“We read the conditions very well,” Shanto said. “The bowlers did their job … and just tried to bowl in the channel for a long time, not like one or two overs. The bowlers did a lot of hard work and that’s why we got the result.”
Bangladesh is scheduled to tour India this month for two tests and three Twenty20s, and Shanto said the historic win in Pakistan — only their second series triumph away from home — boosts their morale.
“This series (in Pakistan) gives us a lot of confidence,” Shanto said.
Bangladesh skipper believes historic cricket triumph in Pakistan will bring smiles at home
https://arab.news/4b74v
Bangladesh skipper believes historic cricket triumph in Pakistan will bring smiles at home
- Bangladesh won two consecutive Test matches against Pakistan at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium
- The team is now scheduled to tour India this month for two Test and three Twenty20 matches
Pakistan finance chief calls for change to population-based revenue-sharing formula
- Muhammad Aurangzeb criticizes current NFC formula, says it is holding back development
- Minister says Pakistan to repay $1.3 billion debt in April as economic indicators improve
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Saturday the country’s revenue-sharing formula between the federal and provincial governments “has to change,” arguing that allocating the bulk of funds on the basis of population was holding back long-term development.
The revenue-sharing is done under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award that determines how federally collected taxes are divided between the center and the provinces. Under the current formula, much of the distribution weight is based on population, with smaller weightages assigned to factors such as poverty, revenue generation and inverse population density.
“Under the NFC award, 82 percent allocation is done on the basis of population,” Aurangzeb said while addressing the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry’s regional office in Lahore. “This has to change. This is one area which is going to hold us back from realizing the full potential of this country.”
Economists and policy analysts have long suggested broadening the NFC criteria to give greater weight to tax effort, human development indicators and environmental risk, though any change would require political consensus among provinces, making reform politically sensitive.
Aurangzeb also highlighted the economic achievements of the country in recent years, saying Pakistan’s import cover had improved from roughly two weeks just a few years ago to about 2.5 months currently, adding that the government had repaid a $500 million Eurobond last year.
“The next repayment is of $1.3 billion in April,” he continued, adding that “we will pay these obligations, which are the obligations of Pakistan, as we go forward.”
The minister also noted that unlike in 2022, when devastating floods forced Pakistan to seek international pledges at a Geneva conference, the government did not issue an international appeal during more recent flooding, arguing that fiscal buffers had strengthened.
“This time, the prime minister and the cabinet decided that we do not need to go for international appeal because we have the means,” he said.
He reiterated the government was pursuing export-led growth to avoid repeating past boom-and-bust cycles driven by import-led expansion that quickly depleted foreign exchange reserves and pushed Pakistan back into International Monetary Fund programs.
