Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto says his side paid for small mistakes and should have taken all ten wickets on the final day, after Afghanistan survived on 346/8 to draw the Abu Dhabi Test.
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto has said his side paid for small mistakes in Abu Dhabi, where Afghanistan batted out the final day to draw the one-off Test with two wickets in hand. "We should have taken ten wickets today," Shanto said afterwards. Chasing 479, Afghanistan finished on 346/8 after 142 overs.
| At a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Match | One-off Test, Afghanistan v Bangladesh, 9 to 13 October 2026, Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi |
| Result | Match drawn |
| Bangladesh | 346 (Tanzid Hasan 83, Shadman Islam 67, Litton Das 53; Mohammad Saleem 4-82) and 372/7 declared (Litton Das 102, Najmul Hossain Shanto 82, Mushfiqur Rahim 81) |
| Afghanistan | 240 (Rahmat Shah 105, Abdul Malik 62; Hasan Mahmud 5-55) and 346/8 (Sediqullah Atal 111, Rahmat Shah 51, Qais Ahmad 49*; Ebadot Hossain 3-50, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 3-73) |
| Target | 479 to win, 142 overs batted in the fourth innings |
| Player of the Match | Litton Das |
How Afghanistan escaped
Sediqullah Atal made the draw happen. His 111 off 332 balls was a maiden Test hundred, took eight hours and 34 minutes, and made him the first Afghanistan batter to score a fourth-innings Test century. He fell at 281/7 to Taijul Islam, which left Bangladesh with a sniff, but Afghanistan hung on from there.
Rahmat Shah added 51 to the 105 he made in the first innings, and Qais Ahmad finished unbeaten on 49 off 80 balls, with Zia-ur-Rehman alongside him on 0*. Bangladesh also gifted a few lives on the last day: a dropped catch, a missed stumping (Litton Das missed Atal on 70 off Taijul), two missed run-out chances, and one freak moment when the ball rolled off Yamin Ahmadzai's bat onto the stumps without dislodging the bails.
Shanto's verdict
Shanto did not dodge it. "I think we ended up drawing the game due to the small mistakes," he said, adding that Bangladesh should have taken all ten wickets.
He still gave the opposition their due. "They played some brilliant cricket. We have to give them credit as well. Especially the way Sediqullah batted, it was really impressive."
Litton's record and Pybus's verdict
Litton Das was named Player of the Match for a hundred and a half-century with the bat and nine dismissals behind the stumps. He is the first wicketkeeper to score a century and a half-century and effect nine dismissals in a Test match, though the missed stumping off Atal will sting.
Afghanistan head coach Richard Pybus had a smile for Qais Ahmad's late hitting. He had told him to defend, and Qais went the other way, including a six off the last ball of the match. "Qais paid absolutely no attention to my advice whatsoever," Pybus said.
The story comes from ESPNcricinfo, with scorecard details checked against Cricbuzz. Read the full piece on ESPNcricinfo. ESPNcricinfo.
Second source: Cricbuzz on Atal's marathon hundred and Afghanistan's fighting draw. Cricbuzz.
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