The decision cost Shantu dearly

 

Since the teams on foreign tours are not familiar with the conditions of the host countries, they rely on the data of the previous matches of the respective field to understand the mood of any venue. Bangladesh did the same.

Two days before the match, when Najamul Hasan Shantu's squad landed at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium for training, their spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed believed that contrary to Pakistan's team selection and claims about the green top pitch, the pitch would be flat.

 The batting will be easy and the patience of the bowlers will be tested a few times.

But if Najamul Hasan Shantu had agreed with this idea, he should have won the toss and batted first so that his spinners could have been decisive in the fourth innings. But the mental calm of the Bangladeshi think tank was amazing to consider this pitch as favorable for the seamers and decided to bowl first.

Tasin Ahmed has been one of Bangladesh's most successful bowlers in the shorter format, but his Test record is not impressive as he played only 13 matches in a seven-year long Test career. Although he is a part of this squad, he was not available for the first Test.

But even in the absence of comfort, Bangladesh had the flexibility to attack with four seamers. However, Najamul Hasan Shanto preferred Mehdi Hasan Meraj's spin to the fourth seamer and this decision did not prove to be very effective for the visiting team.

Along with the new ball, Shoraful Islam and Hasan Mahmood bowled well. 

The damp conditions and last night's rain also made the pitch suitable for the seamers and the Bangladeshi pace attack rattled the Pakistani top order early on.

Despite picking up the key wickets of Abdullah Shafiq, Shan Masood and Babar Azam at very cheap prices, Shantu was superb as both pacers suffered exhaustion from their first spells in sweltering conditions, leaving them with no fast-bowling options to choose from. 

The young pacer could cope with Naheed Rana's inexperience.

Mehdi Hasan Meraj's first over broke the stalemate of the Pakistani batsmen and the scorecard flowed in such a way that after that all the worries were removed from Pakistan's head and cast a shadow over the Bangladeshi camp.

Saud Shakeel has already proved his worth in Test cricket and the added responsibility of vice-captaincy seems to have enhanced his skills. 

His partnership with Mohammad Rizwan robbed the tired Bangladeshi bowlers who were already in a tense situation due to the absence of the fourth seamer.

Mehdi Hasan Meraj's first over broke the stalemate of the Pakistani batsmen and the scorecard flowed in such a way that after that all the worries were removed from Pakistan's head and cast a shadow over the Bangladeshi camp.

Saud Shakeel has already proved his worth in Test cricket and the added responsibility of vice-captaincy seems to have enhanced his skills.

 His partnership with Mohammad Rizwan robbed the tired Bangladeshi bowlers who were already in a tense situation due to the absence of the fourth seamer.

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