Bangladesh extended their lead to 179 on a rain-affected fourth day in Mirpur, but Pakistan allrounder Salman Agha believes the first Test remains evenly balanced heading into the final day.
“Right now, we can’t say who has the upper hand in this Test,” Agha said. “Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day of Test cricket. We just want to get them out as quickly as we can, that’s what our strategy is going to be. If they really give us 260 to chase in 70 overs, we will definitely go for the chase. But I don’t think they will do that.
“If they want to score 100 runs in 20 overs tomorrow, that’s brilliant – but it is going to be very risky. Personally I want them to give us 60-70 overs to chase 260-odd runs. Somehow I think they won’t [do that]. I think their first priority will be to take us out of the game, and then do whatever they need to do.”
Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mominul Haque were central to Bangladesh’s second-innings progress, adding 105 runs for the third wicket after Pakistan had struck early with the new ball. Their stand drew praise from Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful, who said the hosts remain focused on forcing a result.
“We want to win this Test match,” Ashraful said. “If we can bowl 70 or 75 overs, we can bowl them out. We haven’t decided when we will declare the innings, but I think there is still enough time for us to win the game.”
More Read
Bangladesh Yet to Decide Declaration Plan
Ashraful said the team management had not yet fixed a target for Pakistan, with conditions and remaining time likely to influence the decision on the final day.
He also cautioned Bangladesh’s batters against losing control of the innings too early.
“We have to continue batting well tomorrow,” he said. “It is a wicket that demands you to bat properly. You must have seen how teams have been hurt by an ordinary third innings ever after scoring 400-500 runs, especially in the last four or five years of Test cricket.
More Read
“Mominul and Shanto batted really well during their century partnership. Mushfiq [Mushfiqur Rahim] was also putting away the bad balls. I think we are sticking to a simple plan.”
Openers Backed Despite Twin Failures
Bangladesh had again lost openers Shadman Islam and Mahmudul Hasan Joy cheaply, as Pakistan’s pace attack made early inroads for the second time in the match. Mohammad Abbas was particularly fired up and exchanged words with Mominul during a testing spell.
Ashraful, however, dismissed concerns over the opening pair, pointing to their recent performances.
“I am not worried about the openers,” Ashraful said. “We had three big opening stands in the last Test series [against Ireland]. I think Joy scored something like 235-265 runs. He had a career-best 171 against Ireland. Shadman scored around 190 runs.
“I understand that they didn’t get runs in both innings in this game. We were put into bat; it wasn’t easy to survive against the new ball. We didn’t bat according to our expectations. Our experienced batters recovered very well. We are hopeful that both our openers will return to form in the next match.”
With one day remaining and weather already having affected the contest, Bangladesh will have to balance time, target and risk as they try to turn their advantage into a win.
