RAWALPINDI: The first day of the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh has been called off due to persistent rain here on Friday.
Overnight downpours delayed the toss and after more monsoon rains, umpires abandoned play for the day shortly after midday.
“The first day’s play has been called off due to persistent rain and wet outfield,” Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) posted on their social media platforms. Notably, neither team left their hotels.
Meanwhile, the PCB unveiled the 12-member squad on Thursday which will form their Playing XI for the must-win second and final Test against Bangladesh.
Shaheen Afridi was a notable omission from the lineup along with wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed as well as uncapped batters Kamran Ghulam and Muhammad Hurraira.
Pakistan would be looking to bounce back in the second Test after suffering the first-ever defeat against Bangladesh in the opening Test of the two-match series.
Following the defeat, several strategies came under question; such as going with an all-pace attack, declaration and batting failure in the second innings.
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Pakistan, after being put into bat first, accumulated 448/6 and declared their first innings in the dying minutes of the second day.
Bangladesh, in response, piled up a mammoth total of 565, courtesy of Mushfiqur Rahim’s marathon 191-run knock, before bundling out in the third session of the fourth day.
The first Test was assumed to be heading towards a draw but Pakistan’s batting lineup faltered against Bangladesh’s spinners on the final day and could score 146, setting the visitors a meagre 30-run target.
The Bangladesh openers made no mistake in chasing down a paltry total and steered their side to a historic victory over Pakistan.
Pakistan 12-member Squad
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha.
Bangladesh Squad
Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mahmudullah, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Litton Das, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Ebadot Hossain, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Khaled Ahmed.
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