PAK vs BAN: Rain washes out opening day of second Test

Continuous rains in Rawalpindi washed out the opening day of the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday. 

Earlier, heavy rains in the morning marred the game's first day, leading to a delay in the toss.

Both teams were still in their hotel after the rain stopped for a short duration, with the Met Office forecasting intermittent monsoon rain.

Since morning, sporadic showers have been lashing the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

Though the pitch was covered but most of the stadium got marshy because of the downpour. Now the match will begin tomorrow morning, given that the dry field is available.

Remember, this is a must-win game for Pakistan after they lost the series opener by 10 wickets last week at the same venue.

Pakistan have left out pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi from their 12-member squad, allowing him time to spend with his newly born son.

Star pacer Afridi struggled to find his rhythm through much of the innings, with Pakistan's head coach Jason Gillespie saying he will be rested to allow him to spend time with his new-born son and family.

"Obviously Shaheen will miss out on this game. We had a good conversation with him and he fully understands and appreciates the thinking behind it. We are just looking at what our best combination is for this game," Gillespie said.

The hosts have been struggling through a lean spell of late, bowing out early in this year's T20 World Cup. Their last Test series was a whitewash in a three-match tour to Australia.

Pakistan's 12 for second Test

Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad

Remember, Pakistan played four pacers in the first Test — Shaheen, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Ali and Naseem Shah — as the Shan Masood-led unit wanted to go with a pace attack, but things did not go their way

Comments

Submit