Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood revealed the primary reason that led to the national team’s first-ever series defeat against Bangladesh.
Masood addressed the post-match press conference after his team’s six-wicket defeat in the second Test of the two-match series that culminated at Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
He highlighted Bangladesh’s strengths that paved the way for their historic victory before acknowledging that the national players need to work on their fitness to excel in the longest format of the game.
“I think, we should respect the opposition. Every opposition has its own qualities and Bangladesh’s quality was their discipline, which was more than ours in both Test matches,” said Shan.
“We need to analyze our mistakes and we made a lot of mistakes in this series.
“Test cricket demands fitness, both mental and physical, and I think, that is something we need to work on.”
Shan Masood also shared that the reason behind going with an all-pace attack in the opening Test was made, considering the fitness level of the pacers.
“The reason behind playing four pacers in the first Test was also due to fitness because we thought going with three pacers would put them under immense load. And then when we went with three pacers in the second Test, unfortunately, we lost a pacer in each of the innings.”
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Shan Masood further emphasized the need to address Pakistan’s long-going vulnerability under pressure in the second innings of a Test match.
“In the batting and bowling department, there’s a story which I think has been going on since when I wasn’t a part of the side either, which is that whenever we are put under pressure in the second innings of a Test match, we collapse,” said Shan.
Masood also mentioned the positive side for the Pakistan Test side in their recently-concluded two-match series against Bangladesh.
“If you look at the first innings of both Test matches, each time we lost the toss, there was something in the pitch and yet we scored 448 [runs] in the first match and in the second match, we scored 274 on such a pitch where they [Bangladesh] were six down for 26. That was the reflection of the pitch and on that pitch, we scored 274 while batting first,” stated Shan.
“The positive signs were that we had good starts in both batting and bowling but by the course of four to five days, it all comes down on your fitness level [to carry on the momentum]. So, once again, I would say, we need to work on our fitness.”
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