The opener hit 16 fours in his seventh Test century, second against Bangladesh, as Pakistan reached 292 for three at stumps in reply to the hosts’ 338, still 46 behind. Taufeeq put on 127 for the second wicket with Azhar Ali (57) and 95 for the next with Younus Khan (48*). Captain Misbahul Haq was unbeaten on 26 when bad light stopped play.
Bangladesh paceman Nazmul Hossain struck with the second new ball when he had Taufeeq caught by Shahriar Nafees at second slip in the last session and despite him not being able to score a second double ton, the opener was happy to have put his team in a strong position.
“Every hundred is important but I think my debut century in 2001 against Bangladesh was the best,” he said. “The plan was to play my normal game and wait for the bad ball.
“We’re in a better position now and will try our best to win this game as we have world-class bowlers in the team. It depends a lot on the weather too.”
Bangladesh left to rue missed chances
Pakistan lost just two wickets in the entire day, adding 205 runs after a delayed start due to fog. Bangladesh failed to make most of the chances that came their way, letting off Taufeeq three times and Younus once.
The first opportunity came when Taufeeq was on 56 and wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim did not even try to stump him off Shakibal Hasan, while confidently appealing for a catch down the leg-side.
Taufeeq was again lucky to survive on 66 when he cut the first ball after lunch off paceman Robiul Islam, but Mohammed Nazimuddin dropped an easy catch.
He was on 118 when Nafees failed to hold on to an edge at short-leg off Elias Sunny, while Younus was dropped on 15 by Shahadat Hossain off Nasir Hossain.
In the end, Nazmul was left ruing the missed chances which he felt proved crucial in turning the match in Pakistan’s favour.
“Had we not dropped those catches, we would’ve been in a different position at the end of the day,” said Nazmul. “There are still two days to go and it depends a lot on the weather, but we’ll take it session by session and try to get a positive result from the match.”
Taufeeq Umar
“The plan was to play my normal game and wait for the bad ball. We’re in a better position now and will try our best to win this game as we have world-class bowlers. It depends a lot on the weather too.”
Nazmul Hossain
“Had we not dropped those catches, we would’ve been in a different position at the end of the day. There are still two days to go and it depends a lot on the weather, but we’ll take it session by session and try to get a positive result.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 20th, 2011.
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