Rahmat Shah calls hard-fought Abu Dhabi draw 'equal to a win'
It was the first time Afghanistan didn't lose a Test against a WTC team since September 2019, when they beat Bangladesh in Chattogram (not counting the washout against New Zealand in Greater Noida in September 2024), and Atal was the story of the day.
"All credit to Sediq for really turning it around," Afghanistan coach Richard Pybus said at the press conference after the game. "It was an outstanding innings for him. He had been a little bit out of touch, actually, so he worked really hard on this innings. Credit to him, he's at the beginning of his Test career. He's done all the work. He will carry that confidence forward."
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Rahmat, speaking at the presentation ceremony, said, "Sediqullah came fresh from the T20s, and the way he kept his composure, doing what the team needed him to do and executing it, that is why we achieved the result."
Praise for Atal, who batted over eight-and-a-half hours for his 111 in 332 balls, also came from Najmul Hossain Shanto, the Bangladesh captain, who pointed to the missed chances on the field for failing to eke out a win his team seemed headed for after the first four days.
In fact, Bangladesh would have backed themselves to go the distance when Atal fell in the 119th over, with more the 23 overs still to go and only the tail-enders around. But Qais Ahmad and Yamin Ahmadzai showed off excellent defensive chops with the bat (though Qais found time to hit three sixes, including two in the last over) to do the job for their team.
"I think they played some brilliant cricket - we have to give them credit," Shanto said. "I think especially the way Sediqullah batted, it was really impressive. The wicket was good on the fourth and fifth days. There was some help for the spinners, but it was a good wicket [to bat on] for five days. They must be credited for the way they batted against our quality of bowling attack."
LAST-OVER DRAMA!
Rahmat himself scored a century in the first innings, in what was his first innings as Afghanistan Test captain, and made it even more memorable personally by hitting 51 in the second innings. Neither he nor Atal actually completed the job, though.
"As a team, I was delighted that two players scored centuries in the match and others contributed with half-centuries and vital partnerships," Rahmat said. "The tail batted well and sensibly today. The plan today was to bat for long periods and be patient and not be bothered if they [Bangladesh] bowled dot balls or maidens. Our goal was to bat all day.
"It was a great achievement to bat for over 140 overs [142] and more than seven hours in our second innings. Patience and playing straight with discipline were key in the players achieving the draw from the match. An outstanding effort by all of them."
Pybus echoed the sentiments of his captain. "I think the squad actually managed emotions pretty well today," he said. "It's a long chase [479] and also getting to the point where you're actually batting to hold out and to get a good draw out of it."
The batters did what Pybus expected of them, till it came to Qais. He did bat for 80 balls and for almost an hour-and-a-half from No. 9, but he gave his team-mates some jitters in getting to his highest Test score of 49 not out.
"Qais paid absolutely no attention to my advice whatsoever," Pybus said. "I suggested to him to defend really strongly and with a lot of willpower. I thought he was trying to channel Ben Stokes and chase down that total without absolutely any possibility of getting it.
"Qais gave us a cameo at the back-end there - he played his own game. But credit to him, he just fought incredibly hard like the whole side did."
Mohammad Isam is Cricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
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