Saud opens up on declaring before Rizwan’s double-century in PAK vs BAN Test

Pakistan’s vice-captain Saud Shakeel has opened up on the decision to declare the first inning before wicketkeeping batter Mohammad Rizwan hit a double-century in the first Test against Bangladesh.

It is pertinent to mention that Rizwan was unbeaten on 171 when captain Shan Masood announced to declare Pakistan’s first innings at 448/6.

The wicketkeeping batter remained the top-scorer for the home side, followed by Saud Shakeel, who scored 141 with the help of nine boundaries.

Rizwan was just 29 runs short from his maiden Test double century while Shaheen Shah Afridi was unbeaten with a 24-ball 29.

Several fans took to social media to question Shan Masood’s decision to declare without giving Mohammad Rizwan the opportunity to reach his double century.

However, Saud Shakeel defended the decision, saying that Rizwan was informed about the decision an hour before it was made.

“As far as Rizwan bhai’s double century is concerned, I don’t think the decision to declare was rushed,” Shakeel stated in a media talk after the conclusion of Day 2 of the first PAK v BAN Test.

“Rizwan bhai was informed about an hour before that we would be declaring at this point. He knew our target was to approach 450 runs before declaring,” Pakistan’s vice-captain said.

For Bangladesh, Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud took two wickets each while Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared two wickets between them.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Rizwan joined the elite group of Pakistani wicketkeepers who crossed the 150-run mark in Test cricket, which includes Imtiaz Ahmed, Taslim Arif, Rashid Latif, and Kamran Akmal.

It was also the first time since 2009 that a wicketkeeping batter from Pakistan has scored 150 runs in a single Test match.