Off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz grabbed five wickets to help Bangladesh skittle Pakistan for 274 on the second day of the second Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday. The 26-year-old recorded his 10th five-wicket haul in Tests to cap a good day for the tourists, who are looking to win only their third away series. Bangladesh finished the day on 10-0 despite opener Shadman Islam being dropped by Saud Shakeel off Mir Hamza on the first ball of the innings. But it was Bangladesh’s bowlers who steered them to a strong position.

Mehidy dismissed Pakistan captain Shan Masood for 57 and opener Saim Ayub for 58 after the home team had been well-placed on 99-1 at lunch.

He produced match-turning figures of 4-21 in Bangladesh’s 10-wicket win in the first Test a week ago, and snared Khurram Shahzad for 12 and then Mohammad Ali and Abrar Ahmed to end the innings with 5-61.

Mehidy was ably assisted by fast bowler Taskin Ahmed, who took 3-57.

Agha Salman, dropped on nought by Zakir Hasan off Shakib Al Hasan, was Taskin’s third wicket after scoring 54 with three boundaries and two sixes.

Taskin said he was happy to be back in the longer format of Test cricket.

“It’s a good sporting pitch and we need to bat the full day and get a good lead,” Taskin said.

“It’s great to be back in red ball (cricket) after one-and-a-half years. I enjoyed that and adapted well.”

Salman said the pitch was better than the first Test track and should provide help for the spin bowlers.

“Unlike the first Test, this wicket has lively grass and I believe we have enough runs,” he said.

Desperate for a win to level the two-match series, Pakistan started well but lost wickets at regular intervals to slump from a relatively strong 107-1 on a greenish but slow Rawalpindi pitch.

Taskin bowled first Test centurion Saud Shakeel for 16, the left-hander having already survived a dropped catch by Mehidy off Nahid Rana on one.

Babar Azam, Pakistan’s best batter, fell leg-before to spinner Shakib Al Hasan for 31, having now gone 15 Test innings without a half-century.

The first day’s play on Friday was washed out due to rain but Pakistan shone with solid batting in the first session.

Masood, under pressure after scores of six and 14 in the first Test, hit two boundaries before he fell leg-before to Mehidy in the third over after the lunch break.

Fellow left-hander Ayub was more aggressive, hitting two sixes and four boundaries before he was stumped by wicketkeeper Liton Das off Mehidy.

Taskin, brought in for the unfit Shoriful Islam as Bangladesh’s only change, bowled Abdullah Shafique for nought off the sixth ball of the match.

Bangladesh’s 10-wicket win in the first Test, also in Rawalpindi, was their first over Pakistan in 14 attempts.

Pakistan made two changes from the first Test, resting spearheads Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah to bring in pace bowler Hamza and spinner Abrar Ahmed.

The two-match series is part of the World Test Championship, with Pakistan now ranked eighth and Bangladesh seventh in the nine-team table.

File image of Babar Azam.© X (Twitter)

Left-handers Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub hit fighting half-centuries to help Pakistan recover to 158-4 on a rain-hit opening day of the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Shakeel was unbeaten on 57 at the close while Ayub scored 56 for his maiden fifty during an innings-building stand of 98 for the fourth wicket after Pakistan were tottering at 16-3. Shakeel brought up 1,000 runs in his 11th Test when he reached 33 and hit five boundaries in his seventh half-century. He added a further 44 for the fifth wicket with Mohammad Rizwan, who was unbeaten on 24.

Ayub, who hit four boundaries and a six, fell late in the day, driving wildly off Hasan Mahmud and was caught at third slip.

The new-ball pairing of Shoriful Islam (2-30) and Mahmud (2-33) jolted Pakistan after a delayed start of 230 minutes due to a wet outfield after overnight rain.

Shoriful removed the home team’s skipper Shan Masood for six and then star batter Babar Azam for a two-ball duck before Pakistan launched their recovery on a greenish pitch.

Mahmud hoped Bangladesh would dismiss Pakistan early on Thursday.

“We tried to bowl in the right areas and got early success,” he said. “We will come up with a plan to get early wickets on this pitch tomorrow.”

Ayub said the partnership with Shakeel was crucial.

“We lost early wickets so it was important to build partnerships and we did that and I am sure the good work will continue tomorrow,” he said.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto wasted no time in sending Pakistan in to bat after winning the toss and had them on 81-3 at tea.

Mahmud gave the visitors the first breakthrough when Abdullah Shafique was smartly caught at gully by Zakir Hasan for two in the fourth over.

Shoriful then had Masood caught behind off a sharp delivery, with Bangladesh successfully reviewing a not out decision by South African umpire Adrian Holdstock.

Azam nicked a leg-side delivery in Shoriful’s next over and was caught by wicketkeeper Liton Das for his first home-ground duck in 14 Tests.

Pakistan entered the Test with four fast bowlers in an all-pace attack with no frontline spinner, while Bangladesh included three pacers and two spinners.

The two-match series is part of the nine-team World Test championship, with Pakistan currently sixth in the standings and Bangladesh eighth.

File image of Babar Azam (right) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.© AFP

Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and cricketer Ramiz Raja has slammed the Pakistan team after their group stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup. Pinpointing the many different aspects in which they were lacking, Ramiz Raja used the term “mind-boggling” to highlight the poor decision-making during the tournament. After a shock loss to co-hosts USA and then defeat to arch-nemesis India, Pakistan failed to make the Super 8 stage of the T20 World Cup. As a result, their qualification for the 2026 T20 World Cup is also not guaranteed.

“There was no consistency in selection, their preparation was hodgepodge because they didn’t know who was going to open the innings, and they were in experimental mode for a very long time,” said Ramiz Raja, in his first criticism of the team.

Pakistan went with the experienced duo of Mohammad Rizwan and captain Babar Azam at the top at the start of the tournament, leaving out young Saim Ayub, a decision that brought in criticism from experts.

“They even had to recall retired players,” said Raja, pointing at the re-selection of pacer Mohammed Amir.

“There were also changes in the PCB, and changes as captain,” he added. Ramiz Raja was the chairman of the PCB from September 2021 to December 2022, a period in which Pakistan reached the semi-finals and final of consecutive T20 World Cups.

Recently, former India cricketer-turned-expert Sanjay Manjrekar had jokingly suggested that perhaps Ramiz Raja should replace Babar Azam as captain, as Pakistan usually “go to him to save them”.

“You’ve got to sort out the order up here,” said Raja, pointing towards his head. Critiquing the game awareness and mentality of the Pakistan players, he pointed out the decision of letting left-hander Fakhar Zaman face left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar in the Super Over against USA.

Despite wins over Canada and Ireland, Pakistan failed to qualify for the Super 8 stage, following their two early defeats.

Former PCB chairman Ramiz Raja slammed the management following Pakistan’s 2-0 T20I series defeat against England just before the T20 World Cup. At Kennington Oval, England outplayed Pakistan in all facets of the game by chasing down 158 with more than four overs to spare in the 4th T20I. Pakistan lacked firepower in their middle order and missed the magic from the pacers while defending their target. Ramiz has voiced his concerns regarding the experimentation in Pakistan’s white-ball setup. Once again he lambasted the management for the consequences that the decision to experiment has led to.

“They should stop experimenting with the team. Go into a game with a proper combination. You need to get out of the phobia of strike rate because you don’t have that kind of players. Aapne is team ka satyanash kar diya hai (You have completely made a cock-up of this team),” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel.

Ramiz has been quite vocal about the introduction of Saim Ayub in the opening slot. The record-breaking opening duo of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan was broken during Mohammad Hafeez’s short-lived stint as Pakistan’s director of cricket.

Ayub’s time in the opening slot hasn’t fared well since he came in at the top of the order. Along with the opening slot, Pakistan’s middle order has struggled to muster up runs in critical conditions.

“You have ruined the team by breaking the opening pair (of Babar and Rizwan). The role of the middle order is not defined. You have put all-rounders in the middle and two wicket-keepers are playing. You are changing the fast bowlers. Your spinners don’t spin the ball and don’t have the confidence. You put Imad Wasim out of the playing XI. There is no sideways movement and you have completely dismantled the team just before the T20 World Cup,” he added.

Ayub struggled to put up runs against New Zealand in the T20I series last month but he showed signs of improvement with a quick-paced knock of 45(29) in the first T20I. In four matches against the Blackcaps, the 21-year-old scored 52 runs at an average of 14.25 with 32 as his highest score in the series.

Before Ayub, Babar and Rizwan were the designated openers for the Men in Green. They were one of the most prolific openers in the T20I set-up for Pakistan. The seasoned duo recorded a record-breaking 105-run stand which was their third-century partnership in the last edition of the Men’s T20I World Cup in 2022.

Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside arch-rival India, Canada, USA and Ireland. The Men in Green will begin their campaign against the co-hosts USA on Thursday at the Grand Prairie Stadium, Texas.

Pakistan squad for T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (c), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan.

Saim Ayub in action© Twitter