United News of Bangladesh

The ninth season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) is set to begin on January 6th, 2023 and tickets for the opening round of BPL T20 matches of the Dhaka phase will be available for sale on January 4th. A total of seven teams are participating in the league, which will take place in three phases starting from Dhaka, followed by Chattogram, Dhaka, and Sylhet before returning to Dhaka for the final phase.  Read more: BPL 2023: Salahuddin laments lack of DRS Ticket counters will remain open from 9:30am to 7:30pm and tickets will be available on match days and before match days. The ticket prices are arranged in five different price ranges, with Grand Stand priced at TK 1500, VIP Stand at TK 1000, Club House at TK 500, North/South Stand at TK 300, and Eastern Stand at TK 200. Tickets are available at two different locations; Shaheed Suhrawardi Indoor Stadium, Mirpur, and the ticket booth adjacent to Gate 1 of Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Mirpur. Read more: Bangladesh Cricket in 2022: A peak to begin with, then mostly downhill A total of 46 matches will be taking place this year in BPL, with Dhaka set to host 26 matches, Chattogram 12, and Sylhet 8. The teams have already begun preparing for this highly anticipated T20 event.

The new season of the Bangladesh Premier League T20 (BPL) is just around the corner, and only five days before the first match, the authority confirmed that there would be no Decision Review System (DRS) for any matches prior to the play-offs. This announcement came as a surprise to many, including Mohammad Salahuddin, coach of the Comilla Victorians, who expressed his dismay at the lack of DRS from the start of the tournament. A total of seven teams are set to compete in this season. The new edition will take place in three different venues across Dhaka, Chattogram, and Sylhet. Read: Bangladesh Cricket in 2022: A peak to begin with, then mostly downhill “Such a big cricket event, it would be a great pity if it does not have DRS,” Salahuddin said on Sunday during a practice session of his team. “One wrong decision could turn out to be fatal for a team’s chances of winning the tournament. The board has earned considerable money, so I think they should invest in DRS. Moreover, they had plenty of time before the BPL commences,” he added. It’s going to be the ninth edition of BPL. Read: Russell Domingo Steps Down as Bangladesh Head Coach The Victorians are the most successful team in BPL history, with three titles. Imrul Kayes, the left-handed opener, led the Victorians to the titles on two occasions. Salahuddin announced that they have yet to decide who will captain the team for the upcoming BPL season, but hinted that they will likely continue to depend on Imrul's leadership. Read More: BPL 2023: All Teams Squad, Captain, Players List details

The Bangladesh U-19 women's cricket team, led by Disha Biswas, will head to South Africa on Sunday night to participate in the first ICC Women's Under-19 T20 World Cup. While speaking to the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in the capital's Mirpur Saturday, Disha, from all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan's hometown Magura, hoped that they would achieve something remarkable at the competition. "Even though we might not win the title, we have an outstanding team, and I am confident that we will be able to achieve great success," she said. Disha believes the Bangladesh U-19 women's team is a force to be reckoned with, boasting an impressive balance across all departments of the game. Read: Russell Domingo Steps Down as Bangladesh Head Coach Not only is the team well-stocked in batting, but they have also nurtured several immensely talented cricketers who are poised to make their mark soon, the U-19 women's cricket team captain said. The inaugural edition of the ICC U19 Women's T20 World Cup 2023 will kick off in South Africa on January 14. Sixteen teams will lock horns against each other in the tournament – 12 secured direct qualifications while the other four earned their places after winning their respective qualifier tournaments. In their first match, Bangladesh will take on Australia on January 14. Bangladesh squad Disha Biswas (c), Shorna Akter (vc), Rabeya, Marufa Akter, Dilara Akter, Misty Rany Saha, Reya Akter Shika, Sumaiya Akter, Afia Humaira Anam Prottasha, Mst Unnoti Akter, Mst Dipa Khatun, Leky Chakma, Asrafi Yeasmin Arthy, Jannatul Maoua, and Eva.

With no more play left in what remains of the year, it’s time to reflect on the past 12 months of Bangladesh cricket. To sum it up, 2022 was an exciting but challenging year with its share of highs and lows. In 2022, Bangladesh had a mixed performance in international cricket. They played 10 Test matches and won only one. However, they fared much better in ODIs and won 10 out of the 15 matches they competed in, including a first series win against South Africa in South Africa. Unfortunately, the team continues to struggle in the shortest format, and won only six out of the 21 T20I matches they played this year. The highest achievement of the Bangladesh cricket team in 2022 was their resounding Test victory over New Zealand in Mount Maunganui right at the start of the year. Sadly the team did nothing the rest of the year to dispel the doubters who viewed it as a fluke. Bangladesh's lowest performance came at the Asia Cup 2022 in the UAE when they didn't live up to expectations, as they failed to win any matches. Ebadot Hossain stands tall At Mount Maunganui, Ebadot Hossain heroically took six wickets in the second innings of New Zealand, paving the way for Bangladesh's most remarkable victory in Test cricket. Young batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy, the then captain Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Liton Das all hit a fifty each in that match and helped the Tigers to register the memorable victory. Read: Russell Domingo Steps Down as Bangladesh Head Coach Failure in the Asia Cup In the opening round of Asia Cup 2022, Bangladesh faced Afghanistan and Sri Lanka but unfortunately lost both matches, resulting in their elimination from the tournament. The Asia Cup has long been the stage for the Asian giants, but with Bangladesh failing to make it far in this year's T20 format tournament, it is evident that they still have much to learn when it comes to the game's shortest format. Shakib back as Test captain

Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant was hospitalized on Friday with non life-threatening injuries sustained in a car crash in northern India. Pant, 25, was driving the car that overturned and caught fire after hitting a road divider near Roorkee, his hometown in Uttarakhand state, Ravi Bijaria, a state government spokesman said. Read more: Indian police say 4 suspected rebels killed in Kashmir He was alone in the car at the time of the accident, Bijaria said — “he suffered injuries on his forehead and leg." State police officer Ashok Kumar said Pant lost control of the car and that Pant was pulled out of the vehicle by local villagers. Pant’s hometown is nearly 190 kilometers (120 miles) north of New Delhi. Pant has scored 2,271 runs in 33 tests. He has also represented the country in 30 one-day internationals and 66 Twenty20 matches. Read more: Dhaka Test: Iyer, Ashwin guide India's win from a lost position Pant was part of the Indian team that defeated Bangladesh in a test series earlier this month. He made his T-20 debut as a wicketkeeper-batsman in 2017 and played his first test and one-day international for India in 2018.

Kane Williamson and tailender Ish Sodhi dug in — much to the frustration of Pakistan — as New Zealand moved ahead by 81 runs on the fourth day of the first cricket test on Thursday. Williamson, who completed his first test hundred in almost two years late on Day 2, was not out on 137 off 308 balls while Sodhi was unbeaten on 41 off 127 balls in his comeback test match after four years. New Zealand reached 519-6 at lunch. Read more: Liton becomes highest ranked Bangladesh Test batter ever Williamson has fully capitalized on two stumping chances early in his innings and now has batted for nearly eight hours, hitting 12 fours. Sodhi was closing in on his fourth test half century and showed plenty of determination with the bat on a slow turning wicket. Resuming on 440-6 with a lead of two runs, both batters didn’t get troubled against spinners Abrar Ahmed (3-172) and Nauman Ali (2-154), who have bowled bulk of the overs. Pakistan couldn’t get through the defenses of both overnight batters even after taking the third new ball with Sodhi hitting three boundaries against seamer Mir Hamza on the off side of the wicket. Hamza, also making a comeback after playing his only previous test against Australia in 2018, could have got his first wicket in the penultimate over before the break but Pakistan didn’t appeal as the TV replays suggested he got a thin outside edge of Sodhi’s bat. New Zealand’s lead was 24 when Nauman came close to dismissing Williamson on 116 in his second over of the day. But Williamson quickly went for a successful television referral against umpire Aleem Dar’s lbw ruling after he missed a full-length delivery down the legside and the TV replays suggested the ball had pitched outside the off stump. Both Abrar and Nauman also induced top edges that landed close to fielders as New Zealand continued to build its lead on its first test tour Pakistan since 2002.

Right-handed top-order batter Liton Das achieved a historic milestone, becoming the highest-ranked Bangladeshi batter in Bangladesh’s Test cricket history. According to the latest ICC ranking update published on Wednesday, Liton Das has moved up two places to become the 12th-best batter in the longer format of international cricket. This is his highest ranking yet, surpassing his previous ranking of 14th along with Tamim Iqbal. The newest ranking update came as a testament to Liton's skill and potential. Liton has been batting exceptionally well for Bangladesh over the last three years, accumulating more than 1500 runs at an average of over 45 in Test. During the mentioned period, he scored three centuries with 11 half-centuries. Read more: T20 World Cup 2022: Liton hits a 21-ball 50 vs India before rain starts In the past three years, Liton has become only the second player after Dimuth Karunaratne to have scored more than 1500 runs in fewer than 20 matches. Specifically, Karunaratne notched 1602 runs in 18 games, while Liton amassed 1509 runs in 19 matches. Among the batters who have scored at least 1500 runs in the past three years, Liton holds the fifth-highest average, with only Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, Joe Root, and Karunaratne all having better records than him in the same time period. According to the most recent ranking update, Mushfiqur Rahim is the only other Bangladeshi batter to make it into the top 20, standing at 20th place. Tamim Iqbal is also in the top 50, as he is now at 43rd. Read more: BD v SL: Liton focusing more on long shots

Jalal Yunus, Chairman of the Cricket Operation Department of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), has confirmed that Russell Domingo has resigned from his role as the Head Coach of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team. Domingo was appointed as the head coach of Bangladesh in 2019, shortly after Steve Rhodes was released from his role following the team's disappointing performance at the World Cup 2019 in England. Jalal revealed that on Tuesday, he had sent a resignation letter with immediate effect and without giving any reason for his decision, but expressing gratitude for the support bestowed upon him by the board. Read: Shahid Afridi new interim chief selector of Pakistan “He wished the Bangladesh team a better future,” Jalal said. Doming had been under immense pressure for his lack of success as the coach of Bangladesh in the T20Is. Consequently, he was dismissed from his role as head coach of the T20 team before the last Asian Cup. Jalal announced that Bangladesh will appoint a new coach for both Tests and ODIs ahead of the upcoming home series against England starting on March 1 in Dhaka.    

The Indian Premier League (IPL) auction is one of the most awaited events of the year for cricket fans. IPL 2023 auction was held on December 23 and saw some of the biggest names in cricket get sold to different teams. In this article, we will take a look at the teams, the sold players list, and the major players to watch out for in the upcoming IPL season. 2023 IPL Teams and List of Sold Players There are 10 teams in the 2023 season: the Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Each team is composed of some of the best cricket players in the world. Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) picked up seven players in the IPL auction 2023. The biggest star is Ben Stokes, who is bought for INR 16.25 crore. In other words, the T20 and 50-over World Cup-winning cricketer will play under Dhoni's captaincy. Also, CSK bought Ajinkya Rahane for INR 50 lakh, who previously played for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. CSK picked India's Under-19 World Cup-winning star Shaik Rasheed, who was in great form in the Andhra Pradesh Premier League. The following table is the new players' list for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Chennai Super Kings  Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Ben Stokes 2 crore 16.25 crore Ajinkya Rahane 50 lakh 50 lakh Shaik Rasheed 20 lakh 20 lakh Nishant Sindhu 20 lakh 60 lakh Bhagath Varma 20 lakh 20 lakh Kyle Jamieson 1 Crore 1 Crore Read More: 2022 Cricket Year Review: A Flashback of the Major Events Delhi Capitals One of the most popular teams in IPL history is Delhi Capitals, but the old name of the team was Delhi Daredevils. This team has bought famous stars one after another, but the team has not been successful, they have not seen the IPL trophy yet. For the first time in 2020, the Delhi team entered the IPL finals, besides that Delhi Capitals were knocked out of the second qualifier in 2021. The Indian team's wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is seen as the captain of the Delhi team for the last two years. This year seems to be Delhi Capital will come back strongly as they have bought some top-rated players. The following table is the bought-out players' list for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2023. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Delhi Capital Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Rilee Rossouw 2 crore 4.6 crore Manish Pandey 1 crore 2.4 crore Mukesh Kumar 20 lakh 5.5 crore Ishant Sharma 50 lakh 50 lakh Phil Salt 2 crore 2 crore Read More: 2022 Football Year Review: A Flashback of the Major Events Gujarat Titans The 2022 IPL started with 10 teams and Gujarat Titans won the trophy in the first year. Team captain Hardik Pandya captained very intelligently in the 2022 IPL. Now, the Gujarat team is ready for the next season. This year they have selected young talent and marquee all-rounders from the auction table. Joshua Little, Shivam Mavi, Rashid Khan, and skipper Pandya will have the responsibility. These four players are joined by the experience of Kiwi captain Kane Williamson, which will definitely help the team forward. The following table contains the newly bought Gujrat Titan players for IPL 2023. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Gujarat Titans Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Mohit Sharma 50 lakh 50 lakh Joshua Little 50 lakh 4.4 crore Urvil Patel 20 lakh 20 lakh Shivam Mavi 40 lakh 6 crore KS Bharat 20 lakh 1.2 crore Odean Smith 50 lakh 50 lakh Kane Williamson 2 crore 2 crore Read More: Taijul laments missed chances, still thinks Dhaka Test winnable Kolkata Knight Riders The two-time Indian Premier League champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will start the IPL journey afresh in the new year. In the mini-auction held in Kochi, KKR had the lowest amount. Shreyas Iyer's team stepped in to fill the empty spaces in the team with INR 7.05 crore in the purse. Knights bought 8 players in the IPL auction 2023. Among them, there are 3 foreign cricketers and 5 Indian cricketers. Find out new players in the KKR team after the auction in the following table. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Kolkata Knight Riders Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Mandeep Singh 50 lakh 50 lakh Litton Das 50 lakh 50 lakh Kulwant Khejroliya 20 lakh 20 lakh David Wiese 1 crore 1 crore Suyash Sharma 20 lakh 20 lakh Vaibhav Arora 20 lakh 60 lakh N. Jagadeesan 20 lakh 90 lakh Shakib Al Hasan 1.5 Crore 1.5 Crore Lucknow Super Giants In their debut year in the IPL, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) made it to the playoffs but failed to make it to the finals. At the same time, Gujarat Titans had the last laugh even though they made their IPL debut. Gautam Gambhir, the IPL-winning captain for KKR, has been instrumental in setting the strategy for LSG’s side. Now he is the mentor of LSG. After the auction, Lucknow Super Giants formed a strong team in terms of balance. In the IPL auction, Nicholas Puran was bought by LSG for the highest price of 16 crore rupees. Puran and Lokesh Rahul will hopefully take the team for a trophy by blending Gambhir’s experience. The following table is the new players' list for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2023. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Naveen Ul Haq 50 lakh 50 lakh Swapnil Singh 20 lakh 20 lakh Prerak Mankad 20 lakh 20 lakh Amit Mishra 50 lakh 50 lakh Daniel Sams 75 lakh 75 lakh Romario Shepherd 50 lakh 50 lakh Yash Thakur 20 lakh 50 lakh Jaydev Unadkat 50 lakh 50 lakh Nicholas Pooran 16 crore 16 crore Mumbai Indians Five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians finished at the bottom last time. Such poor performance is not in their history. But Mumbai was desperate to turn around from the start. So the core group of the party has been largely replaced. Mumbai won only four matches last time. But this time Mumbai Indians have fulfilled most of the big goals that they set in the mini-auction of IPL. They took a total of eight players. Let’s see which players Mumbai Indians bagged in the 2023 auction. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Mumbai Indians Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Nehal Wadhera 20 lakh 20 lakh Shams Mulani 20 lakh 20 lakh Vishnu Vinod 20 lakh 20 lakh Duan Jansen 20 lakh 20 lakh Piyush Chawla 50 lakh 50 lakh Jhye Richardson 1.5 crore 1.5 crore Cameron Green 2 crore 17.5 crore Raghav Goyal 20 lakh 20 lakh Punjab Kings Punjab Kings had a whopping INR 32.2 crore in their purse for the 2023 IPL mini-auction. As a result, they have succeeded in buying a total of 6 players including 3 foreigners this time. However, before going into the auction, the biggest challenge in front of Punjab was Sunrisers Hyderabad, who had the most money in their purse this time. But Punjab has organized its team with a great strategy. The following table is the new players' list for Punjab Kings in IPL 2023. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Punjab Kings Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Sam Curran 2 crore 18.5 crore Sikandar Raza 50 lakh 50 lakh Harpreet Bhatia 20 lakh 40 lakh Vidwath Kaverappa 20 lakh 20 lakh Mohit Rathee 20 lakh 20 lakh Shivam Singh 20 lakh 20 lakh Rajasthan Royals Rajasthan Royals, the first champions of the IPL, played some terrific cricket in 2022 after many seasons, with Rajasthan winning both the Orange Cap and the Purple Cap last season. This year's retained list has not seen much change based on last season's performance, but the Rajasthan team faced problems in finishing last season, and this year in the IPL mini auction they tried hard to sign a finisher. Let’s see which players Rajasthan Royals picked in the 2023 auction. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Rajasthan Royals Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Akash Vashisht 20 lakh 20 lakh Murugan Ashwin 20 lakh 20 lakh KM Asif 30 lakh 30 lakh Adam Zampa 1.5 crore 1.5 crore Kunal Rathore 20 lakh 20 lakh Donovan Ferreira 20 lakh 50 lakh Jason Holder 2 crore 5.75 crore Joe Root 1 crore 1 crore Read More: IPL 2022: Meet the Top Individual Performers Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were not willing to make too many changes to their old squad. So they retained 18 cricketers from the old squad. Released a total of 5 cricketers and bought 7 cricketers from the auction. Let’s see RCB’s new players from the auction. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Royal Challengers Banglore Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Sonu Yadav 20 lakh 20 lakh Avinash Singh 20 lakh 60 lakh Rajan Kumar 20 lakh 70 lakh Manoj Bhandage 20 lakh 20 lakh Will Jacks 1.5 crore 3.2 crore Himanshu Sharma 20 lakh 20 lakh Reece Topley 75 lakh 1.9 crore Read More: Four Bangladeshi Cricketers to Compete in IPL 2023 Auction Sunrisers Hyderabad Sunrisers Hyderabad picked 13 cricketers from the IPL 2023 mini-auction, which is the maximum by any team. And with this, they completed the 25-man squad. So, Sunrise Hyderabad got several options for batsmen, bowlers, and all-rounders in the upcoming IPL. Table: IPL 2023 Players List of Sunrisers Hyderabad Player Name Base Price (INR) Selling Price (INR) Anmolpreet Singh 20 lakh 20 lakh Akeal Hosein 1 crore 1 crore Nitish Kumar Reddy 20 lakh 20 lakh Mayank Dagar 20 lakh 1.8 crore Upendra Yadav 20 lakh 25 lakh Sanvir Singh 20 lakh 20 lakh Samarth Vyas 20 lakh 20 lakh Vivrant Sharma 20 lakh 2.6 crore Mayank Markande 50 lakh 50 lakh Adil Rashid 2 crore 2 crore Heinrich Klaasen 1 crore 5.25 crore Mayank Agarwal 1 crore 8.25 crore Harry Brook 1.5 crore 13.25 crore Key Players to Watch in the IPL 2023 Auction Ben Stokes, Phil Salt, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Shakib Al Hasan, Nicholas Pooran, Cameron Green, Sam Curran, Jason Holder, Will Jacks, Heinrich Klaasen, Mayank Agarwal, and Harry Brook. Three Bangladeshi Cricketers in IPL Auction 2023 Four Bangladeshi players Taskin Ahmed, Afif Hossian, Litton Das, and Shakib Al Hasan were shortlisted for the Indian Premier League 2023 auction. Although the preliminary list had six cricketers, two (Shariful Islam, and Nasum Ahmen) were excluded from the final list. Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman played IPL previously. Mustafiz signed for Delhi Capitals last year. This year Kolkata Knight Riders picked Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das in their team. So, this will be the first time in IPL that three Bangladeshi cricketers will play in a season. Read More: IPL 2023: Shakib, Litton roped in by KKR Final Words The IPL Auction 2023 was a great success with many of the biggest names in the cricketing world being sold to various teams. The likes of Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Sam Curran, Jason Holder, and Ben Stokes were some of the major names that were sold. While the teams have some of the best players in the world on their rosters, the fans will be eagerly watching to see which team will be crowned the IPL champions for 2023.

Babar Azam hit his ninth test hundred and Sarfaraz Ahmed returned to test cricket after nearly four years with an impressive 86 as Pakistan overcame a top-order collapse to reach 317-5 against New Zealand on Monday in the first test. Babar was not out on 161 with 16 fours and a six and Sarfaraz — playing his first test since January 2019 — grinded well in his long awaited 50th test to give Pakistan an early advantage on a slow and dry wicket. They shared a 196-run stand to lift Pakistan from 110-4 before Ajaz Patel (2-91) broke through late in the final session on Day 1 and had Sarfaraz caught in the slip with the second new ball. “I finally got an opportunity and I hope my today’s knock will help the team,” Sarfaraz said. “Of course it was disappointing not to get a century in my hometown, but the partnership with Babar was more important to me.” Patel nearly ended Babar’s six hours of batting in the last over, but the Pakistan captain successfully overturned an lbw ruling through TV referral. Babar with 1,170 runs in test matches this year, surpassed Joe Root’s tally of 1098 runs to become leading test run-scorer in 2022. His 2,584 runs in all the three formats this year bettered Pakistan’s record of most international runs in a calendar year. Pakistan batting coach Mohammad Yousuf held the previous record when he made 2,435 international runs in 2006. Read: Shahid Afridi new interim chief selector of Pakistan Both Babar and Sarfaraz dominated the three spinners and were untroubled against the seam bowling of captain Tim Southee and Neil Wagner in nearly two sessions after New Zealand had made early inroads. Sarfaraz came good against the spinners with his sweeps and Babar made New Zealand pay a heavy price for letting him off the hook early with his trademark cover drives and flicks on the on-side. Daryl Mitchel dropped a regulation catch when Babar was on 12 as the Pakistan skipper raised his hundred before tea off 161 balls with a six off Michael Bracewell (2-61) over midwicket. “Babar made the most of his chance and batted really well,” Patel said. “He continued to put pressure on us when we were starting building momentum … and he soaked it up. Obviously no one wants to drop catches, but it happens sometimes, it’s just the nature of the game.” Babar could have been run out in the first over after lunch but Devon Conway couldn’t hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end with the Pakistan captain way out of his crease when Sarfaraz refused to go for a quick single. New Zealand, playing its first test in Pakistan in 20 years, had started well after Babar won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket expected to favor spinners. Patel and Bracewell made an early impact after Southee brought on his slow bowlers as early as the fourth over at National Stadium. Sarfaraz had to wait for 26 test matches before finally breaking into the test XI after Pakistan finally rested all-format regular wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan. He made full use of his hometown conditions and rebuilt the innings and even braved cramps after tea while going for a quick single and diving at the non-striker’s end. Read: 2022 Cricket Year Review: A Flashback of the Major Events New Zealand came close to dismissing Sarfaraz on 26, but the batter successfully went for a TV referral after on-field umpire Aleem Dar adjudged him to be caught behind off Southee. Southee was again on the forefront with the second new ball, but Sarfaraz survived another TV referral when New Zealand went for an unsuccessful lbw review. Earlier, Patel and Bracewell found plenty of turn in the first hour after Southee lost the toss in his debut as New Zealand skipper. Southee read the slow and dry wicket quickly and brought on his spinners with the new hard ball only three overs old. “At the start of the day I thought it was very really good. Later on in the day it got tougher,” Patel said. “Babar and Sarfaraz really batted very well. They really applied themselves and put us under pressure for long periods of time.” Patel got the breakthrough off his third ball as Abdullah Shafique (7) was stumped after getting beaten on two successive deliveries from the leftarm spinner. Shan Masood (3) also tried an over ambitious shot against Bracewell’s offspin and Tom Blundell got his second stumping before Imam-ul-Haq (24) played a reckless shot and holed out to Southee at mid-off to leave Pakistan struggling at 48-3. It was for the first time in men’s test history that first two batters in an innings got stumped. Babar raised his fifty off 76 balls when he drove Sodhi through mid-on off the backfoot for his seventh boundary before Southee dismissed Saud Shakeel (22) in the penultimate over before lunch. Shakeel, who scored four half-centuries in England’s 3-0 sweep against Pakistan last week, played a loose drive against Southee and offered a regulation catch in the gully just when it looked the pair had started to rebuild the innings. Pakistan also brought Mir Hamza into the playing XI after the leftarm fast bowler played his only test against Australia in 2018 in Abu Dhabi, while Imam also returned after missing the last test against England because of a hamstring injury.