Bangladesh is locked in a battle with Afghanistan in a one-off Test match at Chattogram and well, the unfancied Afghans have pushed the hosts to a corner. Even before the first ball was bowled, Rashid Khan scripted history by becoming the youngest Test captain. Previously, the former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu was holding this record for more than last 15 years.
He was not done yet, he stamped his authority all over the game - he scored 51 runs in the first innings. He then went on to bag five wickets on Day 3 to complete his second five-wicket haul in only his third Test to hand Afghanistan a big advantage on Saturday. He ended proceedings with 5-55, as Afghanistan bowled out Bangladesh for 205 runs in the first innings.
Rashid on the charge
With this feat, Rashid became only the 17th captain to achieve the rare feat of picking up a five-for and scoring a fifty on the same Test match. Also, he became the youngest skipper in Test history to claim this feat. He went past Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan as he claimed the milestone in 20 years and 352 days.
"It is different (The Test format), and you have to have different kind of mentality for that," Rashid said ahead of the match. "You have more time and certainly there is more pressure in the Test cricket. As a player you need to switch on and switch off being playing like in T20, in ODI's and in Test cricket and we are ready for that.
When bad light and power failure ended day 3, Afghanistan had a lead of 374, and were still going strong and there were no indications of any declaration. There was a 108-run stand between Asghar Afghan and Ibrahim Zadran set their second innings up, and Asghar passed fifty for the second time in the match.
Ibrahim was the star with the bat in the second innings as he hit six fours and four sixes before he looked to wallop another maximum only to perish 13 short of what would have been a maiden century.
It will be an uphill battle for Bangladesh from this point on as they will have to bat on a wearing pitch against the guile of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi on Day 4 and 5.
