RAWALPINDI: Veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim delivered a remarkable innings of 191 on the fourth day of the first Test, offering Bangladesh a glimmer of hope for a historic win over Pakistan.
Rahim’s outstanding performance anchored Bangladesh’s first-innings total of 565, their highest ever against Pakistan, securing a crucial first-innings lead of 117 runs. At stumps on the fourth day, Pakistan was 23-1 in their second innings, trailing by 94 runs after declaring their first innings at 448-6.
The hosts lost opener Saim Ayub early, caught behind by wicketkeeper Liton Das off Shoriful Islam. Bangladesh, with a history of losing 12 out of 13 Tests against Pakistan, will look to their spinners to exploit a Rawalpindi pitch that has so far offered little assistance.
Rahim’s innings included partnerships of 114 with Liton Das (56) for the sixth wicket and a record-breaking 194 for the seventh wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who contributed a solid 77. This surpassed Bangladesh’s previous highest Test total against Pakistan of 555-6 set in Khulna in 2015.
Mushfiqur, who faced 341 balls over eight hours and 42 minutes, hit 22 boundaries and a six before his dismissal by pacer Mohammad Ali, caught by wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan. He broke the record for the highest individual score by a Bangladeshi batter in Pakistan, previously held by Javed Omar with 119 in Peshawar in 2003.
Rahim was fortunate to escape being dismissed on 150 when Babar Azam dropped him at leg slip. Pakistan also thought they had him leg-before at 59, but the decision was overturned on review.
The stand with Mehidy Hasan Miraz set a new record for the highest partnership against Pakistan, surpassing the previous best of 186 by New Zealand’s Warren Lees and Richard Hadlee in 1976.
Mehidy added 37 runs before being dismissed by Shaheen Shah Afridi, who also dismissed Hasan Mahmud for a duck to finish with figures of 2-88. Naseem Shah wrapped up the innings by dismissing Shoriful Islam for 22, ending with Pakistan’s best figures of 3-93.
Shah acknowledged that the pitch had not been as favorable to pacers as anticipated, stating, “We did not get as much help from the pitch as we expected. We need to find a way to gain an advantage at home.”
The second and final Test of the series will take place in Rawalpindi, starting August 30.
