August 18
For my first ride to the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Talib bhai is my taxi driver. He tells me he saw me during breakfast. He also works in my hotel. Shakeel Khan, the PCB media manager, is waiting for me in the press box but we are presently stuck on the main road approaching the stadium. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are training inside so all roads around the stadium are closed.
Talib bhai coordinates with Shakeel bhai to get me to the media entrance. When Shakeel bhai comes out to the gate to meet me since I don't have an accreditation card yet, Talib bhai sneaks in a request: one look at the Rawalpindi Stadium. Shakeel bhai laughs. I quietly tell Talib bhai: don't worry, I will get you a couple of tickets.
After hearing I don't have a SIM card, local journalists Afzal Javed and Arfa Feroze Zake insist on dropping me at the hotel. Afzal bhai has just returned from the Olympics where Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem won the javelin gold.
I find a shawarma stand near my hotel and get talking to Sajid, who is standing nearby. He correctly guesses that I'm from Bangladesh. Like the last five people I have met today, Sajid also wants to know more about Bangladesh's student revolution. When I am about to pay for my food, the shawarma stand owner tells me that Sajid has already paid for it. Such hospitality won't be the last on this tour.
August 19
It takes me almost an hour to sort out my new SIM card. It won't be activated till evening, so I catch a motorcycle ride to the stadium. Bangladesh are having their fifth net session since arriving in Lahore six days ago. They haven't had much training back home in the previous four weeks. I notice Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim batting in the nets about 70 yards apart. Quite a contrast in their styles.
At the press conference, I ask Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusinghe about his personal experience in Dhaka in early August during the student uprising. Hathurusinghe, who has a reputation of being a tough disciplinarian, breaks down in tears. It stuns the room.
I have lunch with my father's former colleague, Talib uncle, who has lived in Saudi Arabia for 48 years. We visit the Faisal Mosque, one of the picturesque icons of Islamabad. It is a beautiful white marble mosque with hills in the backdrop.
After work, I head out with podcaster and cricket writer Behram Qazi to Saidpur village for dinner where our server, Tabish Khan, turns out to be a cricketer. He is a tall left-arm fast bowler who looks like Mitchell Starc. Tabish plays cricket by day and works in Des-Pardes restaurant in the evening. After dinner we collect Tabish's bowling video, which Behram passes on to couple of coaches.
August 20
At the security gate of the Serena Hotel in Islamabad, we meet Arshad Khan, the former Pakistan offspinner. I tell him I saw him play in the Dhaka Premier League in the 1990s.
"My first five passports are mostly Bangladesh visa stamps," he says.
Arshad bhai has come to meet David Hemp, the Bangladesh batting coach who was previously Pakistan women's head coach. We are here to see Rabeed Imam, the Bangladesh team manager, one of the longest-serving cricket administrators at the BCB. He has written for this website in the past when he was a journalist. I broach the topic of heading out one day. He responds with a wry smile. The teams more or less stay put in the hotel. Even short trips outside would involve a huge security cordon accompanying them.
I also meet a team-mate from Dhaka where we play amateur cricket together. He now lives in Islamabad and has watched Bangladesh play in Australia, New Zealand, India and England. Last year, he drove to Lahore to see Bangladesh beat Afghanistan in the Asia Cup. He is nervous about watching his first Test in Rawalpindi tomorrow.
August 21
When the Bangladesh team arrives at the ground for the first Test, Nazmul Hassan is the Bangladesh board chief. By the time play gets underway four and a half hours later - delayed due to a wet outfield - Faruque Ahmed has been appointed the new board president. Hassan has resigned after 12 years in power. No one really knows where he is. Hassan sent a message to the board CEO informing him that he has stepped down. Apart from Hassan, at least 16 other BCB directors are missing.
Some of us from the press box step out onto the balcony to take in the atmosphere as the teams gather for the national anthems. I start welling up listening to the Bangladesh anthem. Perhaps it was because I was hearing it for the first time since August 5 when prime minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to resign. Players and journalists have also told me that hearing the Bangladesh anthem in Pakistan is a special feeling given the nations' shared but fraught history.
Zakir Hasan then gets everyone excited with his diving catch at gully to get the first Pakistan wicket, but the press box groans as one when Babar Azam is strangled down leg side. Pakistan slip to 16 for 3.
Saud Shakeel and Mohammad Rizwan counterattack, but Bangladesh's early inroads get our dinner party excited. We are at Kabul restaurant with Athar Ali Khan, the commentator and former Bangladesh cricketer, his brother and nephew. Conversation flows, and the kababs and the kabuli pulao are phenomenal.
August 22
After wrangling with the police over road closures, Behram and I manage to get inside the stadium and end up parking in the VIP parking lot, but since it's not the media entrance, we can't clear our laptops and chargers through security. A call from Shakeel bhai smooths things over.
Pakistan are batting, but the crowd that's turned up is insignificant .
I meet a familiar face in the press box. Tony Hemming, who was a curator at the BCB only last month, has now joined the PCB. Pakistan bat for most of the day, with Shakeel and Rizwan getting hundreds. They declare on 448 for 6, which, given Bangladesh's batting struggles for the past 12 months, seems to be a formidable score.
Meanwhile in Dhaka, new BCB chief Faruque takes his first shot at Hathurusinghe. The pair clashed several times between 2015 and 2016 when Faruque was chief selector and Hathurusinghe was in his first stint as Bangladesh coach.
Bangladesh make a promising start with the bat. Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam survive 12 overs, much to batting coach Hemp's delight. On our way back to Islamabad, I'm surprised to see shipping containers blocking one of the main roads - this is to subdue political protests planned through the city. We head over to Dilli Darwaza for nihari. It wins over our stomachs and hearts.
August 23
Bangladesh bat out the third day quite emphatically, but Shakib falls early, holing out at extra cover. It's a day after he has been named in an alleged murder case in Dhaka. Shakib, a former member of parliament of the Awami League government that fell on August 5, was playing in Canada when the incident took place.
August 24
Bangladesh reach 500 for only the fourth time in an overseas Test. Mushfiqur misses out on his fourth double-hundred, but his 191 is an epic. Mominul Haque, one of four batters to score half-centuries in the innings, is amused to see that I'm the only journalist from Bangladesh on this tour.
August 25
I get a compliment at the security gate while entering the stadium. The police officer checking my bag tells Behram that "the Bangladeshi bhai is nice, he always smiles".
Babar falls to Bangladesh's fastest bowler, Nahid Rana. Shakib and Mehidy Hasan Miraz share seven wickets as Pakistan are bowled out for 146 in their second innings - their lowest completed total against Bangladesh.
Mushfiqur is beaming as he signs the honours board. I sidle up to him to tell him that I have now been at the ground for four of his five overseas hundreds. He offers a smile, but no interviews.
August 26
Online publication PakPassion's Mohammad Aizaz takes me to lunch. We have beef pulao, which reminds me of tehari from back home. After the meal, we head to the bus station and Aizaz generously waits with me till my bus for Lahore arrives. I'm going on a sightseeing trip between the Tests.
On the bus, I meet young Atiq, a mathematics student heading to study in Lahore. He says he likes to play basketball. I marvel at the Salt Range mountains, the youngest in the Himalayan range in Pakistan.
Upon my arrival in Lahore, my ESPNcricinfo colleague Danyal Rasool takes me to the 146-year-old Lahore Gymkhana club, where I will stay for the next two days. Their cricket ground was Lahore's international ground until the Gaddafi was built in 1959. Imran Khan used to be a regular at the club, and internationals like Brian Lara and Jimmy Anderson have played warm-up matches at the ground.
My former Cricinfo colleague Umar Farooq Kalson takes me to his home to meet his family. Their terrace is an excellent place for chai, especially on summer evenings. The kunna ghosht is the centerpiece of our dinner.
August 27
Mr Javed, my guide at the Lahore Fort and Badshahi Mosque, is knowledgeable and witty in his candid delivery. We pore over every aspect of the fort before hot-footing it, quite literally as the floor is sizzling hot where it's not carpeted, to the mosque.
The mosque's architecture is splendid but pragmatic. For example, the minarets are set at an angle to protect them from earthquakes. From there, I head over to Danyal's place where his parents host me for lunch. It is a lovely spread with keema, pulao and ginger chicken, among other things. During our conversation, we discover that a childhood friend of my mother's is their friend as well. The connection spans Bangladesh, Libya and Pakistan, which amazes us all.
Upon my request, Umar has arranged a trip for us to visit the Pakistan-India Wagah border. I first read about the ceremony of lowering the flags every evening in Rahul Bhattacharya's book Pundits from Pakistan. Still, I'm surprised by how close the border is to Lahore city. Once we're inside the area, we are served tea. We hear thunder outside. It's pouring in Wagah, but the ceremony will go on. We find seats in the second row.
The gallery on the Indian side is overwhelmingly huge. One of the main competitions between the two sides here is the music - both trying to drown out the other. The parade starts around 5:35pm. The two flags are pulled down as it ends and the gates are shut, although it is with less vigour these days, I'm told. The rain continues as we head back. Despite my anticipation, the music and the loud cheers around me, what I saw left me contemplative - partition, borders and the great divide.
I meet senior journalist Sohail Imran for dinner at a restaurant called Bundu Khan. We have known each other since 2011 when we used to joke that Sohail bhai is such a regular visitor to Dhaka that he might as well get a house there.
August 28
Ijaz Chowdhury, a sports writer who lives in Lahore, meets me at the Gymkhana club. He tells me about the city's sporting history, in particular the Gymkhana and its cricketing roots. Later, Umar drives me around the Gaddafi Stadium, which is under construction ahead of the Champions Trophy next year. He shows me where the Sri Lanka team bus was attacked in 2009.
I quite like the area around the Gaddafi, which reminds me of Mirpur. The drive is slightly narrower than the way to the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. There are restaurants on one side of the stadium here versus furniture stores around the Mirpur venue - all of which are forced to close when matches are held in the two cities.
August 29
Training is called off because of rain. While we wait for more updates, Behram takes me to the Lok Virsa Museum in the Shakarparian Hills. It is an impressive collection of Pakistan's living culture. The rain doesn't let up but this is probably my last chance to visit the Pakistan Monument, which I have been passing every day while travelling to the stadium. Today however, rain obscures the view of the city of Islamabad from the hills.
August 30
By the time the announcement of the first day's play being washed out comes, around mid-day, Danyal, Behram and I are already settled in a cafe.
September 1
Pakistan are bowled out for 274 on day two of the second Test in Rawalpindi, but Bangladesh fall to 26 for 6 in the first hour of day three. Mehidy, who has promised his captain that he will resurrect the Bangladesh innings, joins Litton Das at the crease. They get through to lunch and then thrive in the second session. Litton, who kept wicket all day yesterday, scores his fourth Test hundred. He walks gingerly to the press conference but is in a good mood as he signs the honours board.
September 2
Another implosion from Pakistan. This time, it's Rana who takes out their core - Shan Masood, Babar and Saud Shakeel. Rana, however, has no celebration to match his pace and bounce. He simply walks up to his team-mates after a wicket. That's the only thing out of place in this scene of a fast bowler steaming in and blowing away a batting line-up in Shoaib Akhtar's home town.
Bangladesh begin their 185-run chase under dark clouds. Zakir whips a six that takes the small crowd by surprise. Bangladesh, however, walk off frustrated as bad light stops play. There's lightning and then steady rain.
The weather also threatens our plan to play tape-ball cricket at night. The astroturf is wet but luckily the rain stops around 10:30pm. Karam, Behram's nephew, bowls fast, and I can only make contact with an uppercut. Danyal hits a match-winning six but in the next game, Behram's brother, Haroon, prevents us from scoring 12 in the last over.
September 3
Before I can draw open the curtains in my room, I get a few nervous messages from Dhaka asking about the weather in Rawalpindi - Bangladesh need 143 to win on the final day of the series. The sun is out.
Bangladesh take their sweet time to get to the target. When Shakib scores the winning runs at 2:30pm, Mushfiqur lets out a scream and wipes away a tear. He does the sajda and hugs Shakib. The two have been playing together since their schoolboy days. They shed tears after losing the 2012 Asia Cup final two Pakistan by two runs. They regretted the Bengaluru T20 World Cup nightmare against India in 2016. They have seen it all, and now they have taken the team to a historic 2-0 win in Pakistan.
I get ample time to do interviews with Shanto and Mehidy in the press box while Pakistan captain Shan Masood spends half an hour answering questions at the press conference. Shanto and Mehidy are relaxed, pulling my leg every few minutes about being the only travelling journalist on this tour. When I ask them a question, they repeat it to each other. I try to figure out how I am going to write this interview.
I come back to Behram's place where his parents congratulate me on the Test win. We talk a bit about politics before Behram lets me use his home studio for a video interview. It is a really impressive facility.
We head over to Kabul restaurant once again for dinner - my request for a repeat as it has been a highlight of the tour. We are joined by Behram's colleague Saad Nasir. Aizaz and Abu Bakar Tarrar, another cricket writer, say goodbye after dinner. They have been like my younger brothers on this tour.
September 4
The Bangladesh team have already reached Karachi, and later head to Dubai for their connecting flights back to Dhaka. The country awaits its heroes. Shanto posted a photo of him sleeping with the series trophy. He described the win as the greatest moment of his life. Bangladesh have done so many great things in Rawalpindi that they can build into something substantial in the coming years.
For me, the win was the biggest surprise of my life. I was dreading long boring days of having to watch one-sided Tests when I arrived. But it turned out to be the exact opposite. Every sportswriter wants a good contest, but getting to watch an underdog triumph is the dream. Bangladesh might just have pulled off cricket's greatest underdog story, this time in Pakistan.