Shan Masood Speaks Out After Pakistan's Defeat: 'We Thought It May Not Even Last Full 5 Days'

On Sunday, Pakistan experienced a major upset in Test cricket as they were defeated by Bangladesh with a significant 10-wicket margin in Rawalpindi. This marked the first time Pakistan had lost to Bangladesh in the longest format of the game. Additionally, this loss was the fourth consecutive defeat for captain Shan Masood since taking on the leadership role last year.

On a significantly flat surface, Pakistan missed the trick by not playing a specialist spinner, instead opting for four fast bowlers; while Bangladesh had the spin twins in Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan making life difficult for the host side's batters, Pakistan visibly struggled with the pacers, conceding 565 in the first innings.

Masood, however, staunchly defended the decision. Even after Shakib and Mehidy dismantled Pakistan's batting lineup on the final day, taking seven wickets between them, Masood refused to acknowledge that the absence of a frontline spinner was a strategic error.

“We had anticipated the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers. Looking at the pitch, we expected it to do more,” he said at the post-match conference, as quoted by PTI.

“If we played 3 fast bowlers, we would be pushing them to the limit and the spinner would be bowling 25-30 overs a day, which we wanted to avoid.

"We thought that with the weather, it may not even last the full 5 days. At the end of the day, we got it wrong,” he said.

Masood defends declaration call

Following the defeat, many were critical of Masood's call to declare the first innings at 448/6, despite the fact Mohammad Rizwan was unbeaten on 171, and Shaheen Afridi had already raced to 28 off just 24 deliveries. However, Masood insisted that the decision was made because Pakistan wanted to win and the team management thought the runs were enough.

“We wanted to go for a win in the match and thus felt we had enough runs on the board to declare. But the Bangladesh batters showed a lot of discipline and intent in their first innings. Mushfiq and Miraz batted really well,” he added.

“We felt that with 448 runs we could get a crack at them in the fourth innings.”

"We could have done with more runs but there were also things with the ball and in the field that we could’ve done better to either take a lead or keep them at par,” he said.

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