We will go for a win if Bangladesh give us 260 to chase – Salman

Bangladesh is firmly in control of the first Test against Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium following a rain-interrupted fourth day. The hosts took a lead of 179 runs with seven wickets remaining, with captain Najmul Hossain Shanto (58*) and Mushfiqur Rahim (16*) at the crease.

With his team on the backfoot, Pakistan batter Salman Agha threw a bait at the opposition.

"Right now you can't say who has the upper hand. Tomorrow will be an exciting day of Test cricket. We just want to get them out as quickly as we can," said Salman.

"Definitely, we will go for the win. If they are brave enough to give us 70 overs and 260, we will definitely go for the chase. But I don't think they will do that. For that, they have to score 100-odd in 20 overs. If they want to do that, that's brilliant. But it's going to be very risky. Personally, I want them to do that. I want them to give us 60-70 overs and a score of 260 to chase. But somehow, I think they won't."

"If they give us two sessions and something like 250-odd, we will definitely go for the chase first, and then we'll see how the pitch is playing. But as of now, we want to win this game."

However, Salman added that such an approach could be risky for Bangladesh.

"Not saying they are not brave enough, but the best thing for them is to just take us out of the game. But if they do that – 70 overs and give us 260 to 270 to chase – then we will be in the game as well. If we (Pakistan) were in this position we would have tried to do that – post a big total and make sure to take them out of the game, then give them whatever target we want."

Salman added that the introduction of the World Test Championship and the points-based system are encouraging teams to prepare result-oriented wickets.

"Since that format changed and the World Test Championship has been introduced, teams want to win as many games as they can. Because of that, the kind of pitches teams are preparing – even us in Pakistan – are wickets that produce results. If you go 10 or 15 years back, pitches were very flat and draws came in those days. But now, there are not many draws anymore. You will see results in most games. When you have pitches with something for both bowlers and batters, it becomes challenging to get a draw. So it will always be result-oriented games."