Pakistan need only 93 runs to seal the Chattogram Test against Bangladesh. At the end of day four on Monday, Pakistan were batting at 109 for none with openers— Abid Ali and Abdullah Shafique— hitting a fifty each. In the final innings of the match, Pakistan’s target is 202, and they are off to a strong start to achieve that. They batted 33 overs to end day four without any loss. Mominul Haque, the Bangladesh captain, used all of his specialist bowlers without a bit of luck, which might have made him understand the deficit of playing a Test with only four bowlers. Also read: Chattogram Test: Bangladesh set a target of 202 for Pakistan Bangladesh ended their second innings at 157 in 56.2 overs despite a fifty from Liton Das who also hit a hundred in the first innings. He was accompanied well by debutant Yasir Ali who later was hurt hard in his head by a nasty bouncer by Shaheen Afridi. Bangladesh were at 39 for four at the end of day three. They needed the partnership between Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton to stay longer, but they couldn’t. Mushfiqur, the lynchpin of Bangladesh batting line, was removed by Hasan Ali in the first over of the day. After his dismissal, Liton and Yasir posted 47 runs on the board before Yasir had to leave the field with a blow. Mehdiy Hasan Miraz, and Nurul Hasan Sohan came in after that, but failed to play longer. Sohan got the chance to bat as a concussion substitute to Yasir. He went to play big shots unnecessary and cost his wicket. After Sohan’s departure, Bangladesh have done little as Shaheen took two wickets in an over. Also read: Yasir Ali under 24-hour observation after being concussed Shaheen ended up taking five wickets conceding 32 runs. In the first innings, it was Hasan who registered a five-wicket haul for the tourists. Bangladesh managed to score 118 runs losing the last six wickets. In the first innings of the match, Bangladesh scored 330 riding on the maiden hundred of Liton and 91 of Mushfiqur Rahim. In reply, Pakistan scored 286 thanks to Abid’s 133. After the first Test, both the teams will take on each other in the second Test in Dhaka starting from December 4.

Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque won the toss and elected to bat first in the first Test against Pakistan in Chattogram on Friday. There was an earthquake this morning in the port city, but everything seemed okay as both the teams reached the field on time and the toss took place as per schedule. Bangladesh handed the Test cap to Yasir Ali. The right-handed batter has been in the Test team for a long time but did not get his Test cap. Finally, in his native town, Yasir's dream came true. Yasir played a total of 57 first-class matches and scored 3,980 runs at an average of 50.37, with nine centuries and 25 fifties.  Also read: Mominul expects batting-friendly wicket in 1st Test vs Pakistan in Chattogram The hosts fielded four specialists bowlers -- two pacers and two spinners. Abu Jayed will lead the pace bowling attack and Ebadot Hossain will accompany him, while Taijul Islam will lead the spin attack, and Mehidy Hasan Miraz will complement him.  Pakistan also inducted top-order batter Abdullah Shafique into Test cricket. He played three first-class matches and scored 259 runs with two centuries. Before getting his Test cap, Shafique played three T20Is.  It’ll be marked as Bangladesh’s 21st Test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. In the last 20 matches, Bangladesh won only two at this venue.  Also read: Khaled, Shohidul added to Test squad Before this Test, Bangladesh played 11 Tests against Pakistan and lost 10 of them, with the other match ending up in a draw.  Bangladesh (Playing XI): Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mominul Haque(c), Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das(w), Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain Pakistan (Playing XI): Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam(c), Fawad Alam, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Faheem Ashraf, Nauman Ali, Hasan Ali, Shaheen Afridi, Sajid Khan

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) called uncapped pacer Kamrul Islam Rabbi and left-handed uncapped opener Parvez Hossain Emon to the T20 squad for the last T20I of the ongoing Pakistan series.  The Bangladesh team management asked opener Saif Hassan to leave the team hotel and join the Test team in Chattogram where a few Test cricketers are gearing for the two-Test series against Pakistan.  Emon was expected to get a call to the same squad at the beginning of the series but he was denied and Saif got a call despite his lean show in the format.  Saif also got his maiden T20I cap in the first match of the series but failed to impress. In two matches, he scored only one run with a golden duck.  Read: Mahmudullah blames top-order batting after defeat to Pakistan Emon was one of Bangladesh’s mainstays during their U-19 World Cup triumph in 2020 in South Africa. He also displayed his T20 batting prowess in the Bangabandhu T20 Cup last year. He has the record of hitting the fastest T20 century as a Bangladeshi batter.  The left-handed batter played a total of 24 T20s and scored 563 runs in an average of 24.47 with a century.  Kamrul has also shown some quality bowling in T20s. but he was never a part of the Bangladesh T20 team before. He played a total of 68 T20s and bagged 80 wickets with the best bowling figure of taking four wickets conceding 10 runs. He also played seven Tests.  Read: Pakistan beat Bangladesh in low-scoring first T20I The third and final T20I of the Pakistan series will take place on Monday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. The tourists have won the first two matches to wrap up the series. Bangladesh will now have two win the last match to avoid a whitewash.

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal has been ruled out of the Pakistan series which begins on November 19 with a T20I at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. In this series, Pakistan will take on the hosts in three T20Is and two Tests. The first Test of the series will be played in Chattogram from November 26 and the second one in Dhaka from December 4. Tamim was not part of the Bangladesh squad that played in the T20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE. Instead of the World Cup, Tamim had opted to take part in a T20 league in Nepal. However, he could not finish that due to a finger injury. Read: Tamim to miss T20Is home series vs Pakistan Due to the same injury, he was ruled out of the National Cricket League (NCL). He was expected to return to the national side with the Pakistan series. But on Sunday, Tamim confirmed that the latest scan revealed that he was carrying a fracture on his left thumb. It was learnt that Tamim wanted to play only Test matches against the T20 World Cup 2021 semi-finalists. The left-handed batter played his last international match in July this year in a one-day series against Zimbabwe. He last played Test cricket early this year against Sri Lanka and T20I in March at home against Zimbabwe.

Tamim Iqbal has been recalled in Bangladesh squad as the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a 14-member squad for the first Test of Pakistan series starting from February 7 in Rawalpindi.

Bangladesh stalwarts Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque roared back into form ahead of impending Pakistan series with the timely tons in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Saturday.

Head coach of Bangladesh National Cricket team Russell Domingo has said he will start to sort out the national squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup from the ensuing Pakistan series beginning on January 24.