Shan Masood also underlined the need of increasing one’s exposure to Test cricket, an aspect of the Pakistani setup that has long been lacking, particularly at the domestic level. He further emphasised the stark difference in experience between the two teams by using a few instances from the Bangladeshi squad to support his claims.
There was a great deal of media controversy as analysts and former players criticised Pakistan’s performance during their two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which they ultimately lost 0–2. Their losing skid of 10 Test matches at home was merely prolonged when they lost the second match in Rawalpindi by a margin of six wickets.
Shan Masood, the Pakistani captain, too put up a very poor performance, scoring just 105 runs in four innings. Masood, who hasn’t started winning in the longest format yet, stated that he wasn’t thinking about his captaincy or how long it would continue, highlighting the larger goal he was aiming to accomplish.
“I don’t worry about losing my job. I took this position to implement the improvements we think will benefit this group. Even if my own failure leads Pakistan in that path, I will be happy if I think this squad can proceed in that way. I’ll be appreciative and try my hardest no matter how much time I have,” Masood said, as reported by India Today.
“Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahman, two players from Bangladesh, have played 70–90 Test matches; Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz have played around 40. We require the same amount of exposure to red balls. The pinnacle of cricket formats is Test cricket. You must have prior experience. It’s clear that we require more red-ball and Test cricket.
“You’ll develop players for whichever format you want to play. You cannot acquire Test players by playing more Twenty20 cricket. You cannot take a maths test right after studying for science. You study maths if you’re taking a mathematical test. Masood continued, “You have to play red-ball cricket to play red-ball cricket.”
In both Tests, Bangladesh’s discipline outperformed ours: Shan Masood
Masood went on to explain the specific areas in which his side fell short of the visitors’ and urged self-reflection in order to reverse their future luck.
“We must show respect for the opposition, and in both Tests, Bangladesh’s discipline outperformed ours. We must examine ourselves and the many errors we committed over this series. Test cricket lasts four or five days in terms of mental and physical fitness. We need to improve on it, as this series has shown us,” Masood said in closing.
Also Read: Shaheen Afridi’s “shoulder shrug” incident was clarified by Shan Masood: “He was not angry.”
Before hosting a formidable England squad for a three-match Test series at home, Pakistan has till October to review their strategy and make adjustments to their lineup.
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