Mushtaq banks on late spin as Rahmat Shah's unbeaten fifty keeps Afghanistan afloat in Abu Dhabi Test
Afghanistan finished the second day of the one-off Test against Bangladesh in Abu Dhabi on Saturday in a strong position after captain Rahmat Shah's unbeaten fifty and a gritty 26 not out from Ikram Alikhil kept the hosts' bowlers at bay, leaving the visitors 135 runs behind with six wickets in hand and the contest evenly poised.
Bangladesh had won the toss and chosen to bat first on Friday in their first Test at the venue, with Rahmat leading Afghanistan for the first time in the format. All-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, penciled in at No. 7, said before play that he made no excuses for the punishing heat and expected the conditions to favour spinners as the match wore on, while also saying he was leaving Bangladesh's historic Test win over Australia in Darwin in the past and carrying its confidence into the new match. So far, though, the fast men have ruled: Afghanistan's pace trio shared all nine wickets to fall in Bangladesh's first innings, and Bangladesh claimed four Afghan wickets on the second day, three of them through their pacers.
Rahmat's ability to negotiate the Bangladesh spinners with relative ease has raised questions about the hosts' decision to opt for a two-pronged pace attack on a surface that has offered little assistance to the slow bowlers.
'Spin is going to play a huge role'
Bangladesh spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed, however, expects the slow bowlers to come into their own as the Test progresses.
"I think spin is going to play a huge role because, in the first three days, the pitch is going to go slower and obviously there's going to be less spin. But with the passage of time, because of this weather, I think the pitch is going to start spinning more," said Mushtaq. "Hopefully we can defend the score and score more runs in the second innings, and hopefully we can put them under pressure, Insha'Allah."
Beating the heat with short spells
Mushtaq also explained that Bangladesh had deliberately used shorter spells for their spinners, taking the extreme heat into account, as prolonged stints can leave a bowler's fingers fatigued.
"I think, first of all, we've got nutritionists and good people around the players. I think water is very important and, obviously, small spells," he said. "Sometimes, because of the ball and your fingers in this hot weather, they get very tired. So, as a captain and as coaches, we have to make a strategy where you have to bowl small spells rather than a long spell."
Why Shoriful Islam missed out
The former Pakistan leg-spinner also shed light on Bangladesh's decision to leave out pacer Shoriful Islam, suggesting a lack of bowling workload may have made it difficult for him to sustain the demands of a five-day Test in such conditions.
"I think he was maybe having fewer overs under his belt or maybe he was not fit enough. I'm not sure about that, but what I guess and what I am hearing, he was under-bowled," said Mushtaq. "In this hot weather, if you're under-bowled, it will be very difficult for a fast bowler to continue to play this five-day Test match in this weather. So I personally think, and what I know, he was under-bowled, basically."
Mushtaq's belief in Bangladesh's Test pedigree is long-standing: in September, he publicly backed the Tigers to reach the World Test Championship final, insisting they had "the right to go all the way" provided they won their remaining home Tests against the West Indies and England.
Relief at last for Abdul Malik
While Rahmat anchored the innings, the day also belonged to Afghanistan Test opener Abdul Malik, who said on Saturday he was relieved to finally score his maiden Test fifty after spending five years in international cricket and playing more than 10 innings in the format. The right-handed batter, who made his Test debut in 2021, had struggled to make an impression and seen his place as an opener come under scrutiny after a series of modest returns, but Afghanistan's national selection panel continued to back him — and he repaid that faith with a career-best 62, a timely reminder of the pedigree of one of the leading performers in Afghanistan's first-class cricket.
"Of course, a person feels very happy. It was my first Test fifty, and after 10 innings, I managed to perform, so I am very happy and relieved," said Malik. "It's true that I have struggled a lot. I have also put in a great deal of effort and hard work to perform well at the international level. We are very focused on cricket, especially four-day cricket, which is first-class cricket. Our aim was to produce good results here. So, all of this has come through hard work and struggle. This performance is simply the reward for that effort."
Afghanistan had been reduced to 64 for 2 when Malik and Rahmat joined forces to add 70 runs for the third wicket. Malik's innings came to an end five balls into the third session when he edged Ebadot Hossain, only for Litton Das to pull off a brilliant diving catch.
Malik said Afghanistan's approach was to focus on building partnerships rather than looking too far ahead, with the batters also mindful of how the pitch was playing.
"Initially, when I was batting with Sediqullah Atal, we knew there would be some swing and that they would attack us as well. So, we tried not to lose our wickets and focused on building short partnerships rather than thinking too far ahead," said Malik. "When Rahmat Shah came in, we continued the partnership. We noticed that the ball was coming onto the bat a little slowly, so we tried to play it a little later and stay at the crease for a long time. You can see the result of that approach."
All to play for on day three
With Rahmat and Alikhil unbeaten at the close and Mushtaq confident the pitch will begin to spin more as the weather takes its toll, the one-off Test remains delicately balanced heading into day three in Abu Dhabi.