Last week Bangla-desh achieved a historic triumph against Pakistan in the first of the two Tests in Rawalpindi -- by 10 wickets.

Bangladesh’s maiden win against Pakistan came after 14 encounters. The Tigers had suffered 12 defeats and managed just one draw before this. This was Bangladesh's first-ever 10-wicket win in Test matches.

This was also the first instance of Bangladesh winning a Test in which their opponents had declared the innings.

This victory also provided Bangladesh with a significant boost in the ICC World Test Championship standings, as they vaulted Pakistan and South Africa to the sixth spot, tied on point percentage with Sri Lanka (40%). As a result of the loss, Pakistan slipped down to eighth place (30.56%). The chances to qualify for the final are almost over for the Green-shirts.

Bangladesh etched a momentous chapter in cricketing history by becoming the first team to inflict a 10-wicket defeat on Pakistan on their home turf in a Test match.

Now Bangladesh have won Tests against nine out of 11 teams; they remain win-less only against South Africa (14 Tests, 12 defeats) and India (13 Tests, 11 defeats).

It was the second successive Test lost by Pakistan in Rawalpindi despite posting 400-plus totals in their first innings. It is the first instance of this happening to any team at home in consecutive matches at a venue.

Pakistan have been failing to take home advantage in Test cricket in recent times. Pakistan’s win-less home Test streak has reached 9 since the start of 2022. Their last home win was against South Africa in 2021.

It was the fifth loss for Pakistan in nine home games - three against England, and one each against Australia and Bangladesh. This is the first time they have lost five matches in any nine-game stretch at home; their previous worst was four losses.

Pakistan's longest stretch without a home win is 11 Tests, between 1969 and 1975, but they lost only one of those 11 matches. Nine Tests is their second-longest home sequence without a win.

Pakistan’s captain Shan Masood registered an unwanted record. Shan is the first Pakistani captain to lose his first four Test matches.

Shan made his debut as Pakistan’s Test captain against Australia in Perth last year. He registered three defeats against Australia in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney.

The defeat raised questions over their standing as a red-ball side — they have now lost four of their six fixtures of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle.

In the first innings, Bangladesh posted 565 on the board -- their highest total in a winning cause. Before this Bangladesh had posted 638 against Sri Lanka in 2013 which ended in a draw.

The decision to play with four fast bowlers backfired for Pakistan. The skipper said the team had anticipated the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers.

There was nothing for fast bowlers and nothing even for spinners in the Pindi track. The curators tried to prepare a pacers friendly wicket but barring a few early overs with the new ball, there was nothing in the wicket. "Looking at the pitch, we expected it to do more. If we played three fast bowlers, we would be pushing them to the limit and the spinner would be bowling 25-30 overs a day, which we wanted to avoid. We thought that with the weather, it may not even last the full 5 days. At the end of the day, we got it wrong," he explained.

Seven of Pakistan's 2nd Test innings 10 wickets were taken by the Bangladeshi spinners. Overall, in the match, Mehidy Hasan Miraz took 5 for 101 and Shakib Al Hasan 4 for 144.

In contrast, Pakistan, who went in with four fast bowlers, had to rely on Salman Ali Agha for spin, and he returned figures of none for 145 in 42.3 overs. The fast bowlers from the two teams had similar figures – 9-374 for Pakistan, and 7-322 for Bangladesh.

It was the fifth instance when Pakistan scored more than 448 in their first innings and lost the Test. Their highest first-innings total in a defeat also came at the same venue - 579 against England in December 2022. However, four of those five defeats came when they batted second in the Test. When they batted first, only once have they scored more than 448 and lost: in Galle in 2014, when they made 451 and went on to lose by seven wickets against Sri Lanka.

There has been only one occasion before the Pindi Test when a team lost a Test after a first-innings declaration having lost six or fewer wickets. One of those was under bizarre circumstances in 1976, when India lost five batters to injury against the West Indies in Jamaica. The only other instance was in Adelaide in 2006, when England lost after declaring at 551 for 6 in their first innings.

It was the first time, when Bangladesh won a Test after conceding a 400-plus total in the first innings. The previous highest was 374, by Zimbabwe in Chattogram in 2014.

Former Pakistani players blamed poor team selection and the decline of Pakistan's fast bowlers’ performance. They also criticised Shan’s captaincy and his inability to assess playing conditions accurately.

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