September 3, 2003	Wednesday	Rajab 5, 1424

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MULTAN, Sept 2: With the series already decided after Pakistan’s crushing victory in Peshawar, Bangladesh have nothing left to play for except their pride in the third and final Test starting from Wednesday at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

Hosts won the first Test in Karachi by seven wickets before fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar helped seal the three-match rubber at the Arbab Niaz Stadium with his maiden 10-wicket haul.

Pakistan captain Rashid Latif had expressed his desire to complete a clean sweep over Bangladesh just to get the winning momentum going for the much tougher assignment against South Africa immediately after this series.

Bangladesh’s performance in this their fist-ever three-Test series has been encouraging enough ifjudged on their past showing since being granted Test status three years ago. The obvious reason for this improvement is their inspirational Australian coach Dav Whatmore. .

Yet, the tourists lost the Peshawar Test inside four days after dominating the first eight sessions of play in arguably their best performance at this level of cricket. Pakistan’s nine-wicket triumph reopened the old debate regarding Bangladesh’s inability to withstand the pressure after starting off promisingly.

Their collapse in the second Test was quite astonishing. In the first innings Bangladesh lost seven wickets for 46 runs after reaching 315 for three. If that was not enough, the visitors plummeted to 32 for six in the second innings before limping to 96 all out.

Bangladesh’s latest defeat was their 22nd in 23 Tests and 17th on the trot going into the Multan Test. Pakistan, meanwhile, chase their fourth clean sweep in a three-Test series, having earlier disposed of Australia (1982-83), New Zealand (1990-91) and the West Indies (1997-98), all at home.

In the only other Test played at this picturesque ground in August 2001, Bangladesh were annihilated within three days by an innings and 264 runs in the Asian Test Championship. In that game the Pakistan innings featured a record-equalling five centuries.

Three of the century-makers are in the present squad but only one of them - local hero Inzamam-ul-Haq - is playing in this game. Taufiq Umar, who launched his Test career with 104 two years ago, is reportedly ruled out with a knee injury, which may allow fellow left-handed opening batsman Salman Butt to make his Test debut.

Yousuf Youhana, the Pakistan vice-captain, is also being “rested” to accommodate the 25-year-old Karachi batsman Farhan Adil, who has been with the squad since the start of the current series.

The other two changes are as expected from the side that played in Peshawar. Saqlain Mushtaq is recalled for his first match since being axed after the World Cup, replacing Shoaib Akhtar, who has already flown back to England to complete his stint with Durham.

Younis Khan also makes a comeback after making himself unavailable for the first two Tests for family reasons. He replaces the injured off-spinning all-rounder Shoaib Malik.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, are contemplating fielding their third new ball pair in the series. Mashrafe bin Mortaza, easily his country’s fastest bowler, is likely to be rested, while Alamgir Kabir has been omitted. Tapash Baisya and Manjural Islam are tipped to replace the duo.

Unlike the tracks on which the previous two Tests were played, the pitch here appears to offer a lot for the pacers with a fair amount of grass clearly visible. Shoaib Akhtar, who complained of bowling on pitches in Karachi and Peshawar, would have definitely enjoyed his workload here.

Teams:

Pakistan: Mohammad Hafeez, Taufiq Umar/Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Farhan Adil, Rashid Latif (captain), Saqlain Mushtaq, Shabbir Ahmed, Danish Kaneria, Umar Gul.

Bangladesh: Hannan Sarkar, Javed Omar, Habibul Bashar, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Alok Kapali, Khaled Mashud, Khaled Mahmud (captain), Tapash Baisya, Mohammad Rafique, Manjural Islam. Umpires: Asoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and Russell Tiffin (Zimbabwe). TV umpire: Aleem Dar (Pakistan). Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).