After a disastrous start to the innings on the first day which saw Pakistan get restricted to 16/3 at one stage, batters, Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel steadied the innings through their amazing stand. Both of them smashed tons as the hosts declared after putting up 448 runs on the board. While Shakeel was dismissed on 141, Rizwan remained unbeaten on 171 before Pakistan skipper Shan Masood decided to call his batters back to the dugout.
The timing of the declaration, however, triggered a debate among fans and experts, with many wondering if Masood could’ve let Rizwan reach his double century.
Rizwan’s teammate Shakeel was also asked about the timing of the declaration after the end of the innings, however the batter said that Rizwan was informed about the timing of the declaration about an hour before. The decision, hence, wasn’t taken in haste.
“See, as far as Rizwan bhai’s double century is concerned, I don’t think there was a haste in taking the decision (to declare the innings). Because Rizwan bhai was clearly told an hour before that we would be declaring at this point in time. So he had an idea when we would declare. He was told we will try to near 450 before declaring,” Shakeel said.
The Pakistan bowlers bowled 12 overs during the final session before the day was finished with Bangladesh at 27/0. The visitors will need to perform incredibly well with the bat if they don’t want to fall far behind in the match.
