Kamal Ghorui
Shaheen Afridi once again found himself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons after being pulled up by the umpire for allegedly tampering with the ball during the Pakistan Super League. The Pakistan pacer was also involved in a controversial moment during the first Test between Pakistan national cricket team and Bangladesh national cricket team at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka.Afridi sparked controversy after he was caught on camera appearing to alter the shape of the ball. The incident took place on the fourth day of the opening Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The left-arm pacer was seen pressing the ball under his spikes during Bangladesh’s second innings. The on-field umpire immediately noticed the act, took the ball away from Afridi and carefully inspected its condition.However, after checking the ball, the umpire did not find anything unusual and returned it to Afridi, allowing him to complete his over.Pakistan are currently touring Bangladesh for a two-match Test series, with the opening Test having started on May 8.Bangladesh, who posted 413 in their first innings, bowled Pakistan out for 386 before extending their advantage in the second innings. At stumps on Day 4, Bangladesh were 152/3 with a lead of 179 runs.Captain Najmul Hossain Shanto remained unbeaten on 58 alongside Mushfiqur Rahim, who was batting on 16 when play ended for the day.Bangladesh lost both openers early after resuming on 7/0. Mahmudul Hasan Joy was trapped lbw by Mohammad Abbas for five, while Shadman Islam was caught at gully off Hasan Ali for 10, reducing the hosts to 23/2.Shanto then stitched together a crucial 105-run stand with Mominul Haque, who scored 56. The partnership became only the third instance of a Bangladesh pair recording century stands in both innings of a Test match.Mominul also crossed the 5,000-run milestone in Test cricket before being dismissed by Afridi shortly after Shanto completed his half-century.Earlier in the match, Bangladesh’s first-innings total of 413 was built around centuries and key contributions from Shanto (101), Mominul (91) and Mushfiqur (71), while Abbas claimed 5/92 for Pakistan. Pakistan replied with 386 after Azan scored a century on debut.Bangladesh batting coach Mohammad Ashraful expressed confidence about pushing for victory on the final day.“We are playing to win. I think if we can bowl 70-75 overs tomorrow, and if there is no rain, there will be the opportunity to play 98 overs. I think we will have a chance to win,” Ashraful said.Pakistan’s Salman Ali Agha also backed his side to chase down any target.“Definitely we’ll go for the win,” he said after the day’s play.“If they are brave enough to give us 70 overs and 260, we will definitely go for the chase,” Salman said.“Tomorrow is going to be an exciting day of Test cricket and we just want to get them out as quickly as we can.”
