“Admittedly, the odds are probably in favour of Bangladesh,” quipped Pakistan Test coach Jason Gillespie following Day 4 of the second Test that majorly belonged to the visitors. Imagine the situation Pakistan would be in if their fairly new appointed red-ball coach goes on to say that his team are not ‘favourites’ to win a Test.
Courtesy of their impregnable spirit and some impressive individual performances, Bangladesh have put Pakistan on the mat in their ongoing two-match Test series in Rawalpindi. They first recorded their unprecedented maiden Test win over Pakistan and now are 143 runs away from a historic Test series win.
“I guarantee you will lose..,” Gillespie
While Gillespie is mindful that his team may not have the upper hand going into Day 5, we takes confidence from the fact that Bangladesh were reduced to a sorry 26/6 in their first innings when Khurram Shahzad wrecked havoc.
“We don’t shy away from that, but we’ve already lost if we walk out there expecting to lose. We took 6 for 26 in the first innings so we know that we can have an impact with the ball if we bowl really well.,” said Gillespie, who was hopeful that Pakistan can still put Bangladesh under pressure.
Pakistan began the second Test fairly well. They were 107/1 at one point in the first innings but then lost wickets in clusters to get bowled out for 274. And the resurgence of Bangladesh from 26/6 to 191/6 is well known to everyone. The main fact is that Pakistan have not been clinical enough in this Test. While they were outdone by the class of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mehidy Hasan Miraz in the first Test, Pakistan have themselves to blame now.
Gillespie aims for right mindset from Pakistan
“I hope we get on tomorrow so we can try and win a Test match. We’ve got to have that mindset. Because if we walk out there expecting to lose, well, I guarantee you will lose. But if we walk out there with the mindset and the belief that we can try and shake this game up, then there’s hope. Sometimes, you need those 50-50 things to go your way but we’ve got to have that attitude and mindset that we’re going to go there to win the Test match for Pakistan.“
“We need to take our catches, take any opportunity that comes our way and you never know. This game can create all sorts of drama. So I’m hoping that we can create some theatre and put a smile on a few people’s faces here in Pakistan tomorrow.”
The equation is simple: Bangladesh need 143 more runs with all ten wickets in hand. Meanwhile, Pakistan cannot settle before taking the all ten wickets before the visitors surpass the total and create history.
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