Persistent rain washed out the opening day of the second Test match between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.
Bangladesh leads the two-match series 1-0 after it notched a historic 10-wicket win at the same venue last week when Pakistan was bowled out for an embarrassing 146 in the second innings on the fifth and final day.
Players and team officials stayed in the hotel and umpires called off the play at 12:05 p.m. local time with rain still pouring down and leaving the outfield submerged.
Both teams are in the bottom half of the World Test Championship standings with Bangladesh at No. 7 and Pakistan at No. 8, just above last-place West Indies.
An embattled Pakistan, which has lost four Test matches in a row since Shan Masood was elevated as captain last year, hasn’t won a home Test since it beat South Africa in December 2021. The remaining four Test matches against New Zealand and Australia were drawn.
Pakistan dropped rusty fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi and named another left-armer Mir Hamza along with leg-spinner Abrar Ahmed in its 12-man squad.
Afridi, who was playing his first Test in eight months, was ineffective and had to wait until Pakistan took the third new ball to claim 2-88 as Bangladesh replied to Pakistan’s 448-6 declared with a strong total of 565.
Abrar was surprisingly released from the first Test squad and was asked to play in a four-day game against Bangladesh ‘A’ in Islamabad and Pakistan’s ploy to go with an all-out pace attack in a home Test match after 28 years backfired.
In contrast, left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz took seven wickets in between them on a dramatic fifth day to skittle out Pakistan for its lowest-ever total against Bangladesh in 14 Test matches.
Bangladesh batters, led by Mushfiqur Rahim’s resilient 191, were also among the runs with Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Litton Das and Mehidy all scoring meaningful half-centuries.
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