"Don't think the declaration was made hastily as Rizwan bhai was informed well in advance"

"Don't think the declaration was made hastily as Rizwan bhai was informed well in advance" - Saud Shakeel

Rizwan was inching towards his maiden Test double-century when the declaration came [Credit: @TheRealPCB X handle]

Pakistan vice-captain Saud Shakeel backed skipper Shan Masood's decision to declare the innings with wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan not out on 171 on Day 2 of the opening Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. With rain playing spoilsport on Day 1, Pakistan were forced to declare their first innings on 448/6 to have a bowl at the Bangladesh batters at the end of Day 2.

Rizwan was only 29 runs short of his maiden double century when Masood called the batters in, leading to furious reactions from a few fans on Social Media.

However, Shakeel cleared the air around the declaration at the press conference after Day 2 by saying:

"I don't think the declaration was made hastily as Rizwan bhai was informed well in advance, in fact in prior. 1-1:30 hours earlier he had an idea about it that we will declare at this time and try we reach around 450."

Masood had mentioned before the start of the game about wanting to play an exciting and fearless brand in Test cricket and the brave declaration was evidence of that.

Yet, Pakistan could not make inroads into the Bangladesh batting as the visitors finished Day 2 on 27/0 in 12 overs in response to Pakistan's 448.

Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan shared a game-changing partnership

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Pakistan were off to a horrific start to the series opener against Bangladesh on Day 1, falling to 16/3 in the ninth over.

However, Saud Shakeel and Saim Ayub steadied the ship before the latter fell for 56 to leave the hosts 114/4. Mohammad Rizwan then joined Shakeel and the duo added an incredible 240 runs for the fifth wicket to demoralize Bangladesh.

Shakeel became the joint-fastest Pakistan batter to 1,000 Test runs in only 20 innings, equalling former opener Saeed Anwar. He was finally dismissed for 141 but Rizwan remained relentless and continued his onslaught before the aggressive declaration.

It is worth remembering that Bangladesh have never beaten Pakistan in a Test match, losing 12 of the 13 red-ball games played between the two teams.