|| CF DESK ||

On a rain-affected first day of the opening Test at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Bangladesh's pace bowlers excelled as Pakistan ended the day at 158 for four in 41 overs.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl, Bangladesh quickly put Pakistan on the back foot. Hasan Mahmud provided an early breakthrough by dismissing opener Abdullah Shafiq and then Shoriful Islam  struck twice, removing Pakistan captain Shaan Masood and his dream wicket Babar Azam back to the pavilion for a duck.

Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel then steadied the innings, forging a crucial 98-run partnership. Ayub contributed 56 runs off 98 balls before falling to Hasan, who claimed his second wicket of the day.

Hasan mentioned that while they had anticipated significant pace and bounce from the pitch, the rain interruptions had altered the playing conditions.

"I saw the wicket was very green, so I thought there was going to be pace and bounce, but after the rain, it felt a bit tacky and slow. We then decided to bowl one side of the wicket and pack the field and cut off their strong zone. We were trying to stick to our lengths and be accurate," said Hasan.

"Our plan was to make the batters play as much as possible early in the day. The new ball had some movement, so we tried to bowl full and maintain a line. We tried to execute our plan to the best of our ability. Hopefully, we'll do better tomorrow," he added.