'We just want to get them out quickly': Agha backs Pakistan to push for win

Pakistan batter Salman Ali Agha said on Monday that his side are eager to dismiss Bangladesh quickly as they push for victory in the opening Test of the two-match series at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Bangladesh ended the fourth day on 152 for three in their second innings, stretching their lead to 179 runs on a rain-hit day in which only 48.4 overs were possible.

Play was first interrupted with Bangladesh on 93 for two at lunch, and after a rain delay of more than three and a half hours, only 19.3 overs were possible in the final session before bad light forced an early close.

Mominul Haque scored 56 off 120 balls to become only the third Bangladeshi batter to reach 5,000 Test runs after Mushfiqur Rahim and Tamim Iqbal. Meanwhile, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur remained unbeaten on 58 and 16 respectively, ensuring Bangladesh ended the day without further damage.

“Right now, you can’t really say who has the upper hand in this game. I think tomorrow will be an exciting day of Test cricket. The final day is always exciting, and we just want to get them out as quickly as possible. That’s going to be our strategy,” Salman told reporters in Mirpur after the penultimate day’s play.

Pakistan are also prepared to chase if Bangladesh set a reachable target, although Salman said he does not think the hosts will be “brave” enough to make the final day more exciting.

“Definitely, we’ll go for the win. If they are brave enough to give us 70 overs and 260, we will definitely go for the chase, but I don’t think they will do that,” he said.

“If they give us two sessions and something around 250, we will definitely go for the chase first and then assess how the pitch is playing. Right now, our mindset is to win this game.”

Salman also said the introduction of the ICC World Test Championship has encouraged teams to prepare more result-oriented pitches.

“Since the World Test Championship was introduced, teams are trying to win as many games as possible. The kind of pitches teams are preparing now — even in Pakistan — are aimed at producing results,” he said.

“If you go back 10 or 15 years, you’ll see pitches were much flatter and draws were far more common. But now there are fewer draws, and most matches produce results. Teams are preparing pitches accordingly because of the World Test Championship,” he added.