Courtesy: X
After losing his wicket early on day one of the first Test against Bangladesh, Babar Azam put his disappointment aside to give a standing ovation to Saud Shakeel for scoring a hundred alongside his Pakistani teammates on Thursday, August 22. During day two’s play, the left-handed batter brought up his third Test hundred, to put Pakistan in a commanding position.
Notably, Pakistan had a poor start with the bat after being put into bat first by Bangladesh, losing their first three wickets for just 16 runs. Babar Azam was caught down the leg side by wicket-keeper Litton Das off the bowling of Shoriful Islam on the second ball of his innings, without troubling the scorers.
After Saim Ayub and Saud Shakeel brought Pakistan into the Test match with a 98-run stand for the fourth wicket, Mohammed Rizwan took the attack to the Bangladesh bowlers after settling into his innings. He and Saud Shakeel shared a 240-run stand for the fifth wicket, to put Pakistan in a commanding position while notching up their respective hundreds.
Here is the clip of Babar Azam and other Pakistan players giving standing ovation to Saud Shakeel:
The moment Saud Shakeel brought up his third hundred in his young Test career, the entire Pakistan team balcony at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium were quick to give him a standing ovation. Babar Azam, who is struggling for form and consistency in recent months, also joined into the act, showcasing the great camaraderie between Pakistani players despite the tough results in recent times at the international level.
As of this writing, Pakistan declared their innings on 448/6 during the final session of day two of the first Test against Bangladesh after batting 113 overs. Mohammed Rizwan top scored with 171 not out, while Saud Shakeel’s innings came to a close on 141.
