The overstepping Hossains
Plays of the Day from the third day of the Chittagong Test between Bangladesh and Pakistan
Nitin Sundar
11-Dec-2011
Younis Khan benefitted from a Rubel Hossain no-ball • AFP
The no-ball
Habitual oversteppers, Rubel and Shahadat Hossain, matched each other with six no-balls each on the day. Inevitably, on a day when almost nothing went right for Bangladesh, a wicket fell off one of them. Younis Khan was on 137 when he top-edged a pull off Rubel and was caught by Elias Sunny at deep square leg. Younis went on to make another 63 runs to bring up his third Test double-century and was unbeaten when Pakistan declared. There were also unwelcome no-ball landmarks for both Hossains during the course of the day. Rubel overstepped for the 75th time in just his 12th Test while Shahadat delivered his 100th no-ball in 32 Tests.
Habitual oversteppers, Rubel and Shahadat Hossain, matched each other with six no-balls each on the day. Inevitably, on a day when almost nothing went right for Bangladesh, a wicket fell off one of them. Younis Khan was on 137 when he top-edged a pull off Rubel and was caught by Elias Sunny at deep square leg. Younis went on to make another 63 runs to bring up his third Test double-century and was unbeaten when Pakistan declared. There were also unwelcome no-ball landmarks for both Hossains during the course of the day. Rubel overstepped for the 75th time in just his 12th Test while Shahadat delivered his 100th no-ball in 32 Tests.
The bunny
Tamim Iqbal has tried everything against Mohammad Hafeez, first in the ODI series and now in the first Test. He has swept, slogged, driven and defended but he hasn't managed to decipher him. Today he tried to leave the ball alone, but chose the wrong ball to shoulder arms to. It angled in from wide of the crease and straightened, but not enough to miss off stump. Tamim looked completely befuddled on his way back.
Tamim Iqbal has tried everything against Mohammad Hafeez, first in the ODI series and now in the first Test. He has swept, slogged, driven and defended but he hasn't managed to decipher him. Today he tried to leave the ball alone, but chose the wrong ball to shoulder arms to. It angled in from wide of the crease and straightened, but not enough to miss off stump. Tamim looked completely befuddled on his way back.
The jump
With the century out of the way early, and the bowling offering little by way of challenge, Younis Khan ran the risk of drifting into carelessness. In the third over of the day, he manufactured his own technique to stay alert. Shakib Al Hasan tossed up a ball to Asad Shafiq, who defended it back towards Younis at the non-striker's end. Younis could have stepped away easily, but waited until the ball was close to him before jumping over it to let it go. Javed Miandad would have approved.
With the century out of the way early, and the bowling offering little by way of challenge, Younis Khan ran the risk of drifting into carelessness. In the third over of the day, he manufactured his own technique to stay alert. Shakib Al Hasan tossed up a ball to Asad Shafiq, who defended it back towards Younis at the non-striker's end. Younis could have stepped away easily, but waited until the ball was close to him before jumping over it to let it go. Javed Miandad would have approved.
The flubbed catch
Fast bowlers have never been renowned for their fielding and Rubel showed why. Asad Shafiq miscued a hook off a rising delivery from Shahadat and Rubel ran forward from fine leg, got under it but made a mess of what should have been a regulation catch. Shahadat wasn't upset though, and applauded the effort.
Fast bowlers have never been renowned for their fielding and Rubel showed why. Asad Shafiq miscued a hook off a rising delivery from Shahadat and Rubel ran forward from fine leg, got under it but made a mess of what should have been a regulation catch. Shahadat wasn't upset though, and applauded the effort.
Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo