Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Bangladesh lost four early wickets in the first session of the Chattogram Test against Pakistan at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Friday.
Saif Hassan fell for 14, and his opening partner Shadman Islam, and number three Najmul Hossain Shanto also returned to the dressing room at 14 each. Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque followed suit, at 6.
At lunch, Bangladesh were batting at 69 for four with Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das were unbeaten for 5 and 11, respectively.
Bangladesh handed the Test cap to Yasir Ali. The right-handed batter has been in the Test team for a long time but did not get his Test cap. Finally, in his native town, Yasir’s dreams came true.
Yasir played a total of 57 first-class matches and scored 3,980 runs at an average of 50.37, with nine centuries and 25 fifties.
The hosts fielded four specialists bowlers — two pacers and two spinners. Abu Jayed will lead the pace bowling attack and Ebadot Hossain will accompany him, while Taijul Islam will lead the spin attack, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz will complement him.
Pakistan also inducted top-order batter Abdullah Shafique into Test cricket. He played three first-class matches and scored 259 runs with two centuries. Before getting his Test cap, Shafique played three T20Is.
It’ll be marked as Bangladesh’s 21st Test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. In the last 20 matches, Bangladesh won only two at this venue.
Before this Test, Bangladesh played 11 Tests against Pakistan and lost 10 of them, with the other match ending up in a draw.
Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque(c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das(w), Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain
Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam(c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Faheem Ashraf, Nauman Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Sajid Khan
Source: United News of Bangladesh