Pakistan's captain Rashid Latif is hoping to break a five-year test drought to win the 3-test series against Bangladesh in the second test, which begins in Peshawar on Wednesday. Pakistan won the first test match in Karachi by seven wickets.
The searing temperatures in Pakistan's northwest are the only worry for the Pakistan captain.
"It's quite hot here and it will be difficult for the bowlers to bowl long spells," he said. "But as long as we win, I am not worried if the match goes into even fifth day."
If Pakistan clinches the test series it will be their first on home ground in five years. Pakistan last won a series at home against the West Indies in 1997-98 before losing four to Australia, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and England.
Latif says he won't let history worry him -- but his team is young and inexperienced.
"I am concerned about my team performance. We are going through a rebuilding process and I am confident that the new players are showing signs of great improvement.''
Bangladesh took the first test into the fifth day before losing it by seven wickets with reliable No. 3 batsman Habibul Bashar scoring 71 and 108 in two good Bangladesh totals of 288 and 346.
"Obviously they are bound to improve after playing 22 test matches and they showed it in Karachi where they fought bravely," Latif said.
"I expect a good [first innings] score from my team to put them under pressure. If we get 450 plus in the first innings, we have enough bowling resources to dismiss them early," he said.
Pakistan's latest batting sensation Yasir Hameed will be playing in his hometown after becoming only the second player in test history to score centuries in each innings of his debut test at Karachi (170 and 105).
The wicket at the Arbab Niaz Stadium in Peshawar is expected to give bowlers some more assistance with its tinge of grass. The pitch is not as flat as it was in the first test in Karachi.
"It [the wicket] looks quite different from the Karachi one and I hope there will be more juice in it for the bowlers," Latif said.
Bangladesh's captain was more than satisfied with his team's performance in the first test and was confident his players would raise the bar in the second.
"There were lots of ifs and buts in the Karachi test. We took the test into the fifth day and with a bit of more responsible batting we could have stretched Pakistan more," he said. "All my players are confident and the heat is no problem for us."
Coach Dav Whatmore, who has targeted totals of 300-plus in both the Peshawar test innings, said that Bangladesh is definitely heading in the right direction.
"Improvement in the performance of our team is evident in the way we played in Karachi," Whatmore said.
"It was difficult to lift a losing side but we have identified the areas of improvement and we need to work on that," he said.
Niether team has finalized their squad lineups.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite