Ravichandran Ashwin Baffled by Pakistan’s Collapse Against Bangladesh
Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has expressed his astonishment at Pakistan’s dramatic defeat to Bangladesh in the first Test at Rawalpindi. Pakistan’s capitulation on the final day, losing for the first time ever to Bangladesh in Tests, has left Ashwin perplexed.
Pakistan captain Shan Masood’s decision to declare the first innings at 448, despite losing only six wickets, has been a major talking point. On a flat wicket, Bangladesh went on to post a higher total, before Pakistan’s batting collapsed in the second innings.
“Teams don’t surrender on a pitch like this. In first-class cricket, strong teams will bat first and hit big,” said Ashwin on his YouTube channel. “When I saw the highlights of the match, I understood that it was a proper, tiring collapse on the final day. I haven’t seen that for a long time.”
Ashwin was particularly critical of Pakistan’s lower order, who failed to provide any support to Mohammad Rizwan, who was the star of Pakistan’s batting throughout the match.
“In the end, when Mohammad Rizwan was staging a fight, Naseem Shah played a shot and got out cheaply. I did not understand what happened. There was nothing on the pitch,” said Ashwin.
Former South Africa performance analyst Prasanna Raman, known as ‘PDogg’, who often joins Ashwin for his videos, was equally scathing in his critique of Pakistan’s batting.
“Bangladesh have no mystery spinners or wrist spinners. There is no threat. If you can’t bat for four sessions on a pitch like that at home, it can mean only one thing. Division 1 and Division 2 cricket needs to be brought in. Otherwise, Test cricket in Pakistan will be destroyed,” said Raman.
Pakistan will have a chance to redeem themselves in the second Test against Bangladesh, which begins on August 30 at Rawalpindi. However, they will need to show a significant improvement in their batting if they want to avoid another embarrassing defeat.
