Pakistan seamer Khurram Shahzad put in a stellar performance in Rawalpindi in the second Test against Bangladesh, picking up the best figures by a Pakistani pace bowler at home for over two decades.
After the Rawalpindi rain washed out the first day of the Test, Bangladesh managed to bowl Pakistan out for 274 on day two. Saim Ayub, Shan Masood and Salman Agha all scored half-centuries while Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked up a five-wicket haul. By the end of the day, the visitors had begun batting, and scored 10-0.
The first session on day three saw Pakistan's bowlers find their groove, particularly Khurram Shahzad. The pacer first got rid of Zakir Hasan, who clipped one to short midwicket before knocking over the stumps of Shadman Islam and Najmul Hossain Shanto, all in the space of five of his deliveries.
Watch: Khurram Shahzad delivers devastating opening spell on day three, reduces Bangladesh to 20-3
He eventually took a fourth wicket in the morning session, following up Mir Hamza's double strike by trapping Shakib Al Hasan lbw to reduce Bangladesh to 26-6.
After a stellar recovery by Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton Das, it was Shahzad who returned to break their 165-run seventh wicket stand. He took a good return catch from Mehidy to secure a fifer, before getting rid of Taskin Ahmed to take his sixth wicket.
At the time of writing, Shahzad had taken 6-78 in 17 overs, with Bangladesh at 224-8.
Best home figures by a Pakistani pacer for 21 years
These figures mean Shehzad recorded the best home figures by a Pakistani pace bowler, since Shoaib Akhtar in 2003. Akhtar took 6-50 against Bangladesh in Peshawar to help bowl them out for 361 in the first innings, before taking 4-30 the second time around to complete a ten-wicket haul.
Over 24 hours after Shaheen wasn't named in Pakistan's squad for the second Bangladesh Test, the PCB released a statement to clarify matters.
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) August 31, 2024
But it only served to raise more questions than answers, writes @Aadya_Wisden
READ: https://t.co/kh7W6UG9o3#PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/vAHY8PEGHz
In the period between 2009 and 2019, when international cricket was not played in Pakistan, only one Pakistani pacer registered a six-wicket haul at any of the team's temporary 'home' venues in the UAE – Tanvir Ahmed took 6-120 against South Africa in Abu Dhabi in 2010.
The only other Pakistani bowlers to take six or more wickets in an innings on Pakistani soil since Akhtar are Umar Gul (6-135 vs Sri Lanka in Lahore, 2009), Abrar Ahmed (7-114 vs England in Multan, 2022) and Noman Ali (6-107 vs Australia in Rawalpindi, 2022).
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