Things didn’t quite go to plan, however, as Bangladesh’s old-fashioned crease occupation and spin bowling had the last laugh
Danyal Rasool25-Aug-2024With its network of surveillance cameras, airtight security, and heavy police and military presence, it can feel like there is no hiding place in Rawalpindi. This was felt particularly keenly on Thursday, when a combination of the Bangladesh cricket team’s presence and political rallies made any kind of commute an impossibility, with shipping containers, sniffer dogs and armed security men overwhelming the twin cities, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.Equally, there was no hiding place at the Pindi Cricket Stadium, partially because, alarmed by very few spectators on the first two days of the first Test against Bangladesh, the PCB announced free entry to the stadium over the weekend. What a larger crowd that turned up on the last two days saw from their side, however, might have left them feeling shortchanged.
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Pakistan just couldn’t stop talking about the pitch. What they wanted to do with it, who they had hired to take care of it, how it would come of age over the next five days. Close-up, high-definition shots of a surface laced with grass were shared excitedly by the PCB, with experienced curator Tony Hemming’s arrival announced equally prominently. They announced, more than a day out from the game, that an all-pace attack would line up for the first game.Related
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After three days of cricket where Pindi played as Pindi usually plays, Pakistan’s assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, who grew up and learned his trade in this city, said the behaviour of the surface had totally taken his side by surprise. He epitomised the confusion with this memorable line: “We didn’t read the pitch wrong, it just didn’t do what we expected it to.”Things seemed to go well at first. With the pitch at its conventional day-two flattest, Pakistan cruising at 448 for six, and Mohammad Rizwan unbeaten on 171, Shan Masood called his side back, presumably to make hay of all that pace-friendly goodness Bangladesh had spent 113 overs mostly failing to extract. It was the optically aggressive move – all the overs lost to the weather on day one may have also played a part – and Masood is an optically aggressive captain.Masood admitted Pakistan would have “liked another 50 to 100 runs”. But it wasn’t long before shades of the Shan-ball brand appeared. “We were the ones that were very proactive. We were trying to take decisions. We declared quite early. We scored at a quicker rate.”Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz starred while Pakistan chose not to field a frontline spinner•Associated PressBangladesh were making no such concessions to entertainment. On the day Mahmood wondered why the pitch didn’t behave as he thought it would, Bangladesh’s run rate scarcely tiptoed above three an over. The following day, when a frustrated Naseem Shah called for an overhaul in the way Pakistan should look to exploit home advantage, his frustration partly stemmed from the fact Bangladesh had kept him and his team-mates out for the best part of 170 overs.The seventh-wicket pair put on 196 runs, but there was never any hint of a declaration, Bangladesh ensuring Pakistan squeezed every last drop of effort from their four-man pace attack in searing August heat in Pindi. Mahmood expressed mild frustration at Bangladesh’s indolence in a TV interview later, upset that it deprived Pakistan of the chance to prevent a draw. If only the opposition would play the way Pakistan wanted them to.
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Bangladesh never uttered a peep in complaint about the surface – a member of the camp even privately expressed a desire for the opportunity to play on similar strips back home. Having watched Pakistan go spinner-less, they played the conditions like a fiddle, perfectly clear on how to go about pushing for a result in these conditions. They had a big lead, an early overnight scalp, and a day to make Pakistan pay.By this stage, Pakistan were as convinced about the flatness of the pitch as they had been a few days earlier of its spice. Still not flat enough, as it turned out, for embattled captain Masood, or his equally beleaguered predecessor Babar Azam, to put any runs of consequence on the board. Masood threw his bat at one, ironically ending up undone by extra pace and bounce. Babar, meanwhile, squandered the fortune of avoiding a king pair by throwing his bat at a wide half-volley with no foot movement, unable to execute his trademark cover drive as resplendent bails danced behind him.Having made mistakes throughout the game – as Masood would acknowledge post-match – Pakistan were in no mood to stop just now. Saud Shakeel, whose predisposition towards conservatism would have been welcome now, skipped down the pitch to counter spin that there had been little sign of up till now, allowing Shakib Al Hasan to slide one past his edge as Litton Das whipped off the bails. Abdullah Shafique, whose 37 off 85 was doing its bit to neuter Bangladeshi interest, suddenly found himself down the pitch, too, only for backward point to nestle underneath the top edge. Salman Ali Agha nicked a straight one first up off Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and – who knew? – spin was finding a way of making its mark on the final day of a Pindi Test. Pakistan had made clear all Test they didn’t want a draw, but it wasn’t always obvious they were this keen to avoid one.A dejected Abdullah Shafique walks back after skewing a top edge towards backward point•Associated PressSince the start of this Test, Pakistan had been vocal about the wisdom of going in all-pace. We were told if the seamers weren’t getting any assistance, neither were the spinners. That Pakistan were so confident of getting 20 wickets this way that they might do it against England in October, too. That Salman Ali Agha was bowling so well he was effectively a specialist spinner. Around the same time, Abrar Ahmed, Pakistan’s only real attacking frontline spinner, took four wickets for Pakistan A against their Bangaldeshi counterparts in the same city.All while Bangladesh kept Pakistan out on the field for so long they would be forced to bowl 50 overs of Agha and makeshift spin themselves, getting a single wicket for those efforts. Bangladesh’s own spinners were responsible for seven of the nine wickets that fell on the final day. Quality spin bowling, as it turns out, has a way of scrambling minds even without a great deal of assistance from the surface, with high-quality slower bowlers as lethal with the straight one as the ones that turn.They can toy with batters’ crease positions, test their patience, and awaken all the psychological demons that players work hours putting to bed. Shakib and Mehidy have spent a career establishing reputations that give opposition batters’ such pause; merely rocking up and attempting to lump Agha in the same category is unlikely to have a similar effect.That the game ended with Zakir Hasan sweeping Agha, whom Masood had turned to just four overs into Bangladesh’s nominal chase, was perhaps a fitting way to seal a result both sides deserved. Pakistan had made clear all Test how much they’d hate a pitch that gave them a draw. On that note, at least, Rawalpindi’s surface found a way to avoid disappointing them.
