Shaheen Afridi (in picture) celebrates the wicket of Hasan Mahmud during Pakistan vs Bangladesh 1st Test.© AFP

Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood was seen getting furious in the dressing room and having an animated discussion with the side’s head coach Jason Gillespie, who is also a legendary Australian pacer, on Day 3 of the first Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh. A video of the incident is going viral on social media. While it is evident in the surfaced clip that Masood is angry over something, the fans on internet surprisingly linked it to Babar Azam’s dropped catch, an incident that took a day later. On the fourth ball of the 142nd over of the Bangladesh innings, Mushfiqur Rahim edged an Agha Salman delivery but Babar at leg slip dropped the easy chance.

Big Kalesh b/w PCT players (Pakistani captain Shan masood angry on Babar azam drops catch and his performance)#PAKvsBAN #Cricket pic.twitter.com/EKKGwjqm2f

— DK Gupta (@dkgupta2071981) August 24, 2024

Big fight between pct players,

Pakistani captain Shan masood angry on Babar azam drop catch and his performance pic.twitter.com/BVhTtfzSW6

— AB de villiers (parody) (@virashtra18) August 24, 2024

While the catch from Babar was dropped on the fourth day of the match, the viral video of Masood is from the third day.

Babar Azam dropped the catch of Mushfiqur Rahim.#PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/VzhaEtm2yH

— (@CallMeSheri1) August 24, 2024

Senior batter Mushfiqur hit a brilliant 191 on the fourth day of the first Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday, giving Bangladesh an outside chance of a maiden victory over Pakistan.

The diminutive batter was the foundation of Bangladesh’s first innings score of 565 — their highest Test total against Pakistan — and gave the visitors a first innings lead of 117.

Pakistan were 23-1 at the close of play, with Abdullah Shafique on 12 and skipper Shan Masood on nine. The home team trail by 94 runs after making 448-6 declared in the first innings.

Bangladesh, who have lost 12 of the 13 Tests against Pakistan, will hope their spinners can extract some turn from a Rawalpindi pitch that has been unresponsive so far.

Pakistan once again started badly when opener Saim Ayub edged a good-length ball from Shoriful Islam to wicketkeeper Liton Das after scoring just a single in the third over of their second innings.

However, the day belonged to Mushfiqur, who added 114 with Das (56) for the sixth wicket and then a record 194 for the seventh wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who made a solid 77.

Bangladesh’s previous Test best against Pakistan was the 555-6 they made at Khulna in 2015.

(With AFP Inputs)

Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel knocked brilliant centuries to guide Pakistan to an imposing 448-6 declared before Bangladesh closed the second day on 27-0 in Rawalpindi on Thursday. Rizwan’s unbeaten 171 was his Test best and third century in the format while Shakeel’s 141 was equally polished as the duo lifted Pakistan from a precarious 16-3 on Wednesday. Bangladesh openers Shadman Islam was 12 and Zakir Hasan on 11, negotiating 12 overs of pace without any problem as the Rawalpindi stadium pitch has not assisted bowlers as predicted.

Bangladesh batting coach David Hemp hoped his batters match their opponents.

“It’s a pretty good batting pitch and we hope it continues like this,” said Hemp, a former Bermuda player. 

“Our batters need to match Pakistan’s batters and we need to get closer to Pakistan’s total.”

Bangladesh had pushed Pakistan on the backfoot on day one but it was Shakeel who repaired the innings with Saim Ayub (56) through a 98-run fourth wicket stand before another 240 runs were added for the next with Rizwan as Pakistan blunted Bangladesh’s attack.

Rizwan, who hit three sixes and 11 boundaries in a 239-ball knock, added a quick 44 with Shaheen Shah Afridi who smacked two sixes and a boundary in a blistering 29 not out.

That allowed Pakistan to declare their first innings 78-minutes after tea.

Shakeel said it is too early to give a verdict on the pitch.

“The ball was moving early on (Wednesday) but if you look at Bangladesh’s bowling they bowled short of length and had they pitched it up they would have got more success,” said Shakeel.

“Let our bowlers bowl tomorrow then we can have a final say on the pitch.”

Bangladesh failed to get a wicket in the first session as Rizwan and Shakeel batted superbly to help Pakistan reach 256-4 at lunch.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz ended Bangladesh’s frustrating wait for the wicket, luring Shakeel out of the crease as wicketkeeper Litton Das removed the bails, ending a brilliant 261-ball knock.

Shakeel also scored his third Test century and hit nine boundaries. 

Shakeel also survived a freakish run out attempt on 138 when he stepped out of his crease while leaving paceman Hasan Mahmud‘s delivery, but made it back as Das hit the stumps.

Agha Salman made 19.

Pacers Hasan Mahmud (2-70) and Shoriful Islam (2-77) were the pick of Bangladesh bowlers, while Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan grabbed a wicket each.

Resuming at 158-4, Shakeel and Rizwan added 98 runs in an extended two-hour and 15-minute morning session after play on the first day was delayed by a wet outfield.

Looking for early wickets, Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto used all his bowlers but none could replicate the success achieved on day one.

The two-match series is part of the World Test Championship’s third cycle with Pakistan currently sixth and Bangladesh eighth on the nine-team table.

Pakistan vs Bangladesh 1st Test Live: Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan in the middle© AFP

Pakistan captain Shan Masood is furious after being given out vs Bangladesh.© Twitter