The Rawalpindi Track and Bangladesh's Success Story

Pakistan struggled to get Test Cricket at home. They eventually had big sides coming in and with their pace battery there were some moutwatering prospects to wait for as teams faced the Pakistan challenge. The challenge though was more for the home side than the away side with Pakistan failing to win a home test since 2021. The Rawalpindi track is at the forefront of some of their struggles. The three Tests in the last three seasons have all seen games go really high scoring. The bowlers had no support and the same was the case for Pakistan against Bangladesh. Seeing grass on the track they went with an all-pace attack while Bangladesh went with a balanced attack and a composition of three spinners.

Two days in there was no hiding place. Runs were coming, there was nothing for the bowlers with the pitch drying out in the sun on the first two days. As the game went on the track quickly lead to a tale of two teams. Bangladesh batted well, controlled the Pakistani's nicely with the ball and were in a good position. Pakistan though were quickly retaliated and complaining about the nature of the pitch and how it did not play as they expected. While the pitch did not go how they expected Bangladesh found another story in the second innings. They ran through the Pakistan batting line-up in the third innings, getting them all-out for 146, and were left with an easy target of 30 to win their first Test against Pakistan. The spinners took seven wickets from Bangladesh and that was the case of how Pakistan badly misread the track.

Two days on, Pakistan continue to complain about the track with Naseem Shah and later Shan Masood speaking about how it did not help them. The Rawalpindi track for that matter has been a huge concern for Pakistan. They drew a Test against Australia and were Bazballed months later against England. The track clearly had no spice in it for those fixtures and it almost looked evident to be the same until Bangladesh proved that spinners could get purchase on it. The game meandered on with Pakistan struggling. Eventually, Bangladesh finally conquered both the pitch and the Pakistan unit, proving that they were the ones who read the pitch better. On a ground which has seen draws often seem like the evident result, Bangladesh found a way to dominate well and now lead 1-0 in a two-Test series.