Shan Masood denied Rizwan a certain 200? Pakistan star explains declaration call in first innings against Bangladesh
Mohammad Rizwan was heading towards a certain double hundred before Pakistan captain Shan Masood declared the innings in the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.
Rizwan was trying to score a double hundred when Pakistan Captain Shan Masood announced the innings in the first test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Rizwan was unshakeable on 171 runs off 239 deliveries, while Shakeel also scored 141 runs off 261 balls. The two jumped up their team’s runs to 240 for the fifth wicket to rescue pakistan from 114-4.
As Rizwan was just 29 runs behind from the record, many feel that he should have been allowed to score a double ton. Pakistan were in the driving seat by the time they declared on Day 2 of the contest. On being asked the reason behind his declaration, Shakeel gave a blunt answer
“The decision was not taken in haste, and Rizwan bhai was informed in advance that we would declare the innings at this point in time. He knew that declaration was coming. It was decided that we would declare the innings after reaching near 450,” Shakeel said.
The batting became easy when the sun shone brighter, as Bangladesh bowlers couldn’t bowl a good line and length on a green pitch. In a way, Rizwan and Shakeel put Bangladesh bowlers on the back foot.
Pakistan will have to win the two Test matches against Bangladesh to keep their hopes of making it to the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) alive. They are sixth in the points table at the moment. Pakistan haven’t lost a Test match to Bangladesh in the history of the longest format.
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