13:31 IST: Update 1:50 pm local (7:50 am GMT) – The live pictures show that our beloved friend, rain is still out there. So take a deep breath and continue the waiting game patiently. Some lovely retro Hindi music is being played by the broadcaster. Lovely weather for such songs but not the weather to play cricket in.
12:52 IST: Update 1:21 pm local (7:21 am GMT) – Guess who is back? Our good old friend, rain! The players come off and the covers come on. Quite heavy too at this point.
12:50 IST: 63.2: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, On a length, on middle and leg. Azhar Ali works it to square leg. Some low bounce there but safely negotiated by Azhar Ali.
12:49 IST: 63.1: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Good-length delivery on off. Azhar Ali defends this off the front foot.
Batsman Babar Azam71(113b 8*4 1*6)
Bowler Ebadot Hossain 12-1-48-0
12:48 IST: 62.6: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, On a length, on off. Solidly defended towards the off side.
12:47 IST: 62.5: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, Good-length delivery and around off. Babar Azam defends it but the ball hits the top of his blade as there is some extra bounce off the pitch.
12:47 IST: 62.4: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, Drifting on the pads this time. Worked to deep square leg for a single.
12:46 IST: 62.3: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, Full on middle. Azhar Ali clips it to short mid-wicket.
12:45 IST: 62.2: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, On a length, on off. Azhar Ali defends this towards the off side.
12:45 IST: 62.1: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, Shorter length and outside off. Babar Azam drives it on up through covers. Again the sluggish outfield keeps the ball away from going to the fence and the batters have again taken three here. Brilliant stuff.
Batsman Azhar Ali51(131b 7*4 0*6)
Bowler Khaled Ahmed 7-1-26-0
12:44 IST: 61.6: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, A full ball, on middle. Azhar Ali defends this to short mid-wicket.
12:43 IST: 61.5: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Good-length delivery and outside off. Azhar Ali covers the line of the ball and blocks it towards the off side.
12:42 IST: 61.4: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, On a length and around off. Azhar Ali defends this solidly.
12:41 IST: 61.3: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Back of a length, on off. Azhar Ali tries to punch it towards the off side. But gets the inner half of his blade towards mid on.
12:41 IST: 61.2: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, On a length, on off. Azhar Ali defends this off the front foot.
12:40 IST: 61.1: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, On a length, on off. Azam pushes it with soft hands towards the off side and gets a single.
Batsman Azhar Ali51(126b 7*4 0*6)
Bowler Ebadot Hossain 11-1-44-0
12:39 IST: 60.6: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, FOUR! Azhar Ali gets to his fifty in style! Short ball on off again and Azhar Ali pulls this in front of square towards deep mid-wicket for another boundary. Poor bowling this by Ebadot Hossain.
12:38 IST: 60.5: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, FOUR! Short and punished! Short ball on off. Azhar Ali gets back in his crease and pulls it towards deep square leg for a boundary.
12:37 IST: 60.4: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, Back of a length and outside off. Babar Azam rides the bounce and punches it through covers. The outfield is little slow and the batters run three as the fielder at the deep stops it inside the fence. Good running.
12:36 IST: 60.3: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, Slightly shorter on off. Babar Azam defends this off the back foot.
12:36 IST: 60.2: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, On a good length, on off this time. Babar Azam blocks it off the front foot.
12:35 IST: 60.1: Ebadot Hossain to Babar Azam, Good-length delivery outside off. Azam decides to leave it alone.
Batsman Azhar Ali43(124b 5*4 0*6)
Bowler Khaled Ahmed 6-1-25-0
12:34 IST: 59.6: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Full and outside off. Azhar gets forward and blocks it to cover.
12:33 IST: 59.5: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Short and outside off again. Azhar leaves it.
12:33 IST: 59.4: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Short ball, outside off. Ali sways away from the line of the ball.
12:32 IST: 59.3: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Full and on middle. Blocked out.
12:32 IST: 59.2: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Length ball, outside off. Left alone.
12:31 IST: 59.1: Khaled Ahmed to Azhar Ali, Length ball, on middle. Worked past deep square leg for one.
Batsman Azhar Ali41(118b 5*4 0*6)
Bowler Ebadot Hossain 10-1-33-0
12:30 IST: 58.6: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, Length ball, on off. Worked past backward point for one.
12:29 IST: 58.5: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, On a length, wide outside off. Left alone.
12:29 IST: A short leg comes in.
12:27 IST: 58.4: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, On a length, on middle and leg. Azhar clips it to square leg.
12:27 IST: 58.3: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, Short of a length, on middle. Blocked out.
12:26 IST: 58.2: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, FOUR! Nicely done! Short and wide outside off. Ali rocks back and cuts it past point for a boundary.
12:26 IST: 58.1: Ebadot Hossain to Azhar Ali, Back of a length, around off. Ali goes back and blocks it.
12:26 IST: Ebadot Hossain will start from the other end.
Batsman Babar Azam64(105b 8*4 1*6)
Bowler Khaled Ahmed 5-1-23-0
12:24 IST: 57.6: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, On a length, on off. Nicely blocked by Azam.
12:24 IST: 57.5: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, Short of a length, around off. Pushed to covers.
12:24 IST: 57.4: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, On a length, just outside off. A nice defence off the front foot.
12:23 IST: 57.3: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, Full and on the pads. Blocked out.
12:22 IST: 57.2: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, Length ball, around off. Azam puts in a stride and blocks it.
12:22 IST: 57.1: Khaled Ahmed to Babar Azam, FOUR! Boundary to start the day! Length ball, down the leg side. Azam works it on its way to the fine leg fence.
12:21 IST: We are all set to begin! Bangladesh players are there out in the middle. The overnight Pakistan batters, Babar Azam and Azhar Ali are there in the middle too. Khaled Ahmed to start for Bangladesh.
11:56 IST: Update 12:20 pm local (6:20 am GMT) – Well, the drizzle has stopped now. The covers are off and the umpires are out in the middle to take a look. But given what has happened in the last hour or so, let us not get our hopes too high and let us wait patiently. Fingers crossed! There will be another inspection in about 20 minutes and if the weather holds good, the action will start at 12:50 pm local (6:50 am GMT).
11:42 IST: Over in Australia, The Ashes are set to begin on 8th December. The first Test will be played at The Gabba in Brisbane and Pat Cummins, the newly appointed Test skipper of Australia has announced his Playing XI for the same. It is as follows. Australian XI for the first Test: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (C), Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc. Meanwhile, the English skipper, Joe Root, has said that he prefers to reveal his XI at the coin toss on Wednesday.
11:36 IST: Update 12:10 pm local (6:10 am GMT) – I am afraid that I have no good news. There was a steady spell of drizzle and the covers are firmly in place. In fact, more covers have been brought in to cover the entire square now. Floodlights are in full effect currently. Things do not look bright. Quite literally.
11:35 IST: … Day 2, Session 2 …
10:59 IST: Lunch has been taken! So, the last two sessions have seen no play in this Test. The umpires have taken Lunch and we hope for some action after that. Do join us at 12:10 pm local (6:10 am GMT) for the second session of Day 2.
10:49 IST: Update 11:16 am local (5:16 am GMT) – Boy oh boy. Just as the broadcasters were getting ready to come live. We saw a very light drizzle. The covers are back on the pitch! It has been that kind of a day, folks and stuff like this is likely gonna happen a few more times over the next couple of days. The players are in their whites as the drizzle is very light.
10:35 IST: Update 11 am local (5 am GMT) – Okay, the covers are coming back off again. As always, we will keep you updated further. Let us see what the umpires decide. They walk out to the middle now for an inspection. They wander around the pitch a bit and walk back out. We will resume the action at 11:20 am local (5:20 am GMT). That was quick.
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