Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto has revealed that he wishes to dedicate the historic Test win over Pakistan in Rawalpindi to those losing their lives in the recent anti-discrimination protests. The 26-year-old said Bangladesh somehow had complete belief in themselves that they can beat Pakistan in their backyard.
The Tigers already smelt victory as both teams headed to the final day of the Test, with Pakistan at 23-1, trailing by 94 runs. By lunch, the hosts had lost 6 wickets. Mohammad Rizwan continued to fight before perishing for 51 as Pakistan were eventually bowled out for 146, leaving the tourists only 30 to chase.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Shanto said their hard work of the last 15 days paid off and reserved special praise for Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 191 amid the scorching heat.
“I dedicate this victory to those who lost their lives in the recent anti-discrimination student movement. It’s very massive, we had never won here, but we believed before the start of the series and we did really well. Especially in the last 10-15 days, we have worked really hard.”
“Mushfiqur for the last 15-17 years has done really well and he is not tiring, he is playing with the same intensity. He played really well in these hot conditions. I’m not only giving credit to him but all the fifteen members of our squad.”
Pakistan suffer their first ten-wicket loss on home soil:
Pakistan were slightly under pressure ahead of day 5 as they were 23/1 in 10 overs and trailed Bangladesh by 94 more runs. Captain Shan Masood was the first one to go on the final day and Babar Azam soon followed suit for 22 despite getting a reprieve when on 0. With Saud Shakeel and Agha Salman also falling without troubling the scores, the hosts went to lunch six down.
Shaheen Shah Afridi perished almost immediately after lunch, while Naseem Shah could not make that huge an impact either despite carrying the reputation for dishing out some lusty blows. Mohammad Rizwan and Khurram Shahzad resisted, but it didn’t last that long as Mehidy Hasan Miraz breached the former’s defences for 51. Mehidy Hasan also finished as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 11.5-2-21-4.
Zakir Hasan hit the winning runs for the tourists to send the fans at the venue into delirium.
