Pakistan crumbled inside two sessions on Day 5 fight to concede the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Sunday. Bangladesh, riding on their lead of 117 runs in the first innings, achieved a 30-run target without any hiccups, registering a historic first-ever Test win over Pakistan. Pakistan's collapse came after both teams scored a combine 1,013 runs in the first innings, leading to heavy criticism of the pitch. Pakistan assistant coach Azhar Mahmood also questioned the nature of the pitch, saying that the track didn't turn out as they wanted.
However, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, in a brutal rant, slammed the team for making excuses and played down the debate surrounding the nature of the pitch.
While analysing the match, Butt said: "Where should I start? Playing four fast bowlers, the declaration, the line and length, everything went wrong. I think this is the first time that the average speed of Bangladesh bowlers was higher than ours. They looked more fit than us. Our junior fast bowlers did better than our senior ones. So, there is a list of mistakes made by the team. Where should we start? Who should we pick and blame because the list goes on."
Butt argued that the pitch shouldn't be questioned, considering the fact that it was Pakistan who were bowled out inside two sessions on Day 5.
"Pitch was not the issue. The quality of bowling was. Our bowling coach said that the pitch didn't turn out the way we wanted. Bowlers also said that the pitch was not good. How does that make sense? especially when Pakistan got bowled out inside two sessions. Their pacers got the wickets of our top order batters before the spinners took the responsibility in the middle. So, this is a long list of mismanagement and incompetance," Butt said on his YouTube channel.
The victory for Bangladesh also marked the first time that a visiting team had beaten Pakistan by 10 wickets in their own home, in Test cricket history.
Pakistan and Bangladesh first went head to head in a Test match back in 2001 during the Asian Test Championship which also included Sri Lanka. The Lankans emerged victorious from the tri-series. Pakistan and Bangladesh took on each other in a bilateral series for the first time in 2002, with the former winning 2-0.