Afghanistan salvaged a draw against Bangladesh in the one-off Test that opened their multi-format series in the UAE, with centuries from captain Rahmat Shah and opener Sediqullah Atal seeing the hosts bat out the final day at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The result, confirmed after five days between October 9 and 13, 2026, kept alive a tour that also features Zimbabwe and continues with a three-team ODI series. The match was Afghanistan’s one-off Test commitment on home soil in the UAE this cycle, giving the hosts only a single opportunity in the format to make an impression before the series turned to white-ball cricket.
Bangladesh Build a Commanding First Innings
Put in to bat, Bangladesh made 346 all out in 92.3 overs behind an aggressive 83 off just 71 balls from opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim and a composed 67 from Shadman Islam. Afghanistan’s attack fought back through left-arm bowler Mohammad Saleem, who finished with 4 for 82, but Bangladesh’s lower order added enough late runs to post a total that, at the time, looked capable of forcing a result inside five days. The Sheikh Zayed Stadium has traditionally offered turn and assistance for spin bowlers as a match wears on, which made Bangladesh’s decision to bat first and bank a large first-innings total a fairly conventional reading of conditions that typically slow down and deteriorate by the fourth and fifth days.
Rahmat Shah Carries the Fight
Afghanistan’s reply fell well short of parity on paper, bowled out for 240 in 89.1 overs, but Rahmat Shah batted through the innings for an unbeaten 105 off 216 balls, the lone Afghan batter to reach fifty as wickets fell around him. Bangladesh’s bowling was led by Hasan Mahmud, whose 5 for 55 from 21 overs did most of the damage, with seamer Ebadot Hossain adding figures of 4 for 56 to keep Afghanistan’s tail exposed. Rahmat Shah’s innings was built on patience rather than aggression, a captain’s knock in the truest sense, as he rotated strike and picked off loose deliveries while wickets fell in clusters at the other end, leaving Afghanistan short of parity but not embarrassingly so.
Litton Das Extends the Lead
Bangladesh batted again and declared on 372 for 7 from 105.2 overs, setting a target well beyond Afghanistan’s reach inside the time remaining. Wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das top-scored with a quickfire 102 off 117 balls, with Nazmul Hossain Shanto’s 82 and Mushfiqur Rahim’s 81 giving Bangladesh the depth to push the game toward a declaration rather than simply batting out the clock. The 372-run declaration left Afghanistan needing to survive roughly a day and a half of play rather than chase a target outright, a target of 479 that was never realistically on, turning the final two sessions into a straightforward examination of Afghan nerve against the second new ball.
Sediqullah Atal Saves the Match
Needing to survive rather than chase, Afghanistan reached 250 for 5 in 99.1 overs by the close, with Sediqullah Atal grinding out an unbeaten 102 off 279 balls to see the hosts to safety. Ebadot Hossain picked up 3 for 46 in the innings but could not force the breakthrough Bangladesh needed, and the match ended in a draw with Afghanistan’s recognized batting pair still at the crease. Atal’s innings, built off 279 deliveries without once losing his wicket, was the slowest and arguably most disciplined knock of the match, a stark contrast to the strokeplay Bangladesh’s top order had shown earlier in the week.
Two Views on a Game That Slipped Away
From Bangladesh’s dressing room, the result will sting: a team that scored 718 runs across two innings and took ten Afghan wickets in the second innings alone could reasonably have expected to force victory, and the pace of the batting before the declaration will draw scrutiny. From Afghanistan’s side, the draw is being treated as a genuine achievement, a reminder that a side built around a core of franchise-league regulars can grind out a result against a traditionally stronger Test nation when its top order holds its nerve on a flat, docile Abu Dhabi surface.
What’s Next
The result leaves the multi-format series alive heading into the white-ball legs, with Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe moving on to a three-team ODI series running from October 17 to 23 in the UAE, before T20Is round out the tour. For Afghanistan, holding Bangladesh to a draw offers useful momentum; for Bangladesh, the challenge is converting similarly dominant batting performances into results as the series shifts to shorter formats, where their batting depth could prove even harder for Afghanistan and Zimbabwe to contain across the condensed, high-scoring cricket still to come in the UAE.
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