The crowd at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium were fully behind star batter Babar Azam despite the former Pakistan captain scoring a duck on day 1 of the opening Test against Bangladesh. A video emerged on social media as the crowd were chanting 'Hamaara kaptaan kaisa ho, Babar Azam jaisa ho'.
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Fans inevitably held high expectations from the Lahore-born cricketer, but he registered a two-ball duck as Pakistan had stumbled to 16-3 at one stage. Nevertheless, Babar has been high on energy on the field as Pakistan hope to start their season of Test cricket brightly.
Centuries from Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel help Pakistan rack up a formidable total:
Despite Pakistan sliding to 16-3 at one stage, they were able to retain control of the game. After Saim Ayub departed for 56, Mohammad Rizwan and vice-captain Saud Shakeel stitched a 240-run stand before the latter fell for 141. While Agha Salman perished for 19 off 36 deliveries, Shaheen Shah Afridi belted a 24-ball 29 to lift the home side to 448/6. Rizwan stayed unbeaten on 171 at the other end as Masood decided to declare.
The tourists didn't lose a wicket by the close of day 2, but Zakir Hasan and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto departed cheaply early on the subsequent day. Khurram Shahzad found the breakthrough as he broke the 96-run stand between Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque by removing the latter for 50.
Saim Ayub proved to be the unlikely wicket-taker, getting the experienced Shakib Al Hasan.
