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RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has accepted his team’s shortcomings following the eight-wicket defeat to South Africa in the second Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Thursday.
Speaking after the match, Masood praised South Africa’s resilience while acknowledging Pakistan’s failure to seize key moments that could have sealed the series.
“Hindsight is always there, but credit must go to the opposition; they kept fighting till the end,” said Masood. “If someone had told us after the first two days that we’d be in this position, we would’ve taken it.”
Pakistan appeared well-placed after taking a 98-run lead in the first innings, but a record-breaking last-wicket stand between Senuran Muthusamy and Kagiso Rabada turned the contest on its head.
Shan Masood admitted that the momentum shift in that short phase proved decisive.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish well with the ball, and that last-wicket stand really hurt us,” he said.
“We were 98 runs ahead with just two wickets to take, but we let the game slip in a costly 30-minute phase where we missed our chances.”
Despite the defeat, Masood remained optimistic about Pakistan’s overall performance in the ongoing Test season, highlighting the team’s recent consistency in challenging conditions.
“Still, with four wins out of six on these kinds of wickets, that’s not a bad record, especially considering how close we came in the two losses,” he reflected.
“As a team, you’re never perfect, but four out of six is definitely something to build on.”
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