Shan Masood makes no excuses for Pakistan’s haphazard performance against Bangladesh

“In the batting department, not only in this series, we need to improve in the second innings,” said Masood. “We tend to fall a lot. We did well in each first innings, losing both tosses in close weather. We scored 448 and said, we were 274, and when we got down to 26 for 6, that showed that’s the pitch we batted on again we got 274. We started well with the ball and the batting, but in four or five days, you need to have a strong mentality to succeed.”

Masood praised Bangladesh’s “morality” and said their Test experience shows the importance of traditional red-ball cricket.

“Bangladesh has two players who have played 70-90 Tests (Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahman), and Litton. [Das] and Mehidy [Hasan Miraz] they have played about 40. We need the same level of exposure with the red ball. Test cricket is the final format of the game. You need experience. Obviously we need Test cricket and the red ball. Whatever format you play is the format in which you will produce players. You cannot play more T20 cricket and get test players. You can’t prepare for science and write a math test. If you are taking a math test, you are learning math. To play red ball cricket, you have to play red ball cricket.

“We have to respect the opposition and Bangladesh’s behavior was better than ours in both Tests. We have to look at ourselves and the kinds of mistakes we made in this series, and make plenty of them. Test cricket, in terms of fitness, whether it’s mental or physical, lasts four or five days. We’ve shown this series is something we have to work on.

With more Test cricket coming, Pakistani players have almost no way to prepare themselves by playing red ball cricket. Most of the squad will play the 50-over version of the newly created Champions Cup from September 12 to 29, before immediately starting a three-Test series at home against England. With the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, Pakistan’s first-class tournament, alongside that series, limited-overs red-ball cricket’s woes are unlikely to end soon.

The issue of player fitness is a constant concern for Masood and the team’s management, with Pakistan claiming that some of their selection decisions are contested. Masood said last week that the extra seamer at the expense of the spinner in the first Test was to spread the workload more easily among the four pace bowlers. In the second Test, both leading fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah were rested, and Pakistan’s three-pronged pace attack lacked pace compared to Bangladesh’s.

Masood admitted that Pakistan might be better served not to rest the duo in partnership. “We kept Naseem at 12, because we had to play four fast bowlers, which we could have done if we looked at the burden that the weather might have placed on the bowlers. But we chose to go with Mir Hamza at left angle. Shaheen was not there, so a lot of thought went into it.

“If I could do it over, maybe we would have split Naseem and Shaheen between the two Tests. You have to treat them well. Shaheen has played a lot of cricket in the last two years. Naseem has just come back from injury; his last Test was against New Zealand in Karachi. You have to look at the health of many players;

Masood has been in Pakistan cricket long enough to know that its administrators and selectors are not known for their patience; his staccato work – 35 exercises in 11 years – is an example of this. Appointed just five Tests ago, he may be the new captain, but he knows he wasn’t chosen at the time, and he’s playing to show his place in the team as much as he’s stepping into leadership. Having become the first Pakistan captain to lose his first five Tests, and averaging 28.60 in ten innings, he understands how quickly the walls close in.

“I’m not worried about my job security,” he said. “I took this job and made changes that we believe will help this team. If I believe that this team can go in a certain direction, even if my failure​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​in takes Pakistan to get there, I will be satisfied. However much time I get, I will get it. I will be grateful and do my best. .”

At the moment, Pakistan has the worst of both worlds, Masood or his team are unable to get results that give them breathing room. After the next home series against England, Pakistan will travel to South Africa, and are currently ranked eighth out of nine in the World Test Championship.

Masood found hope in the positions Pakistan have put him in, pointing to four of the five Tests he has played under his captaincy. “When you do something good once, it’s an encouraging sign, then you try to do it again. We took some time to get used to it in Perth, but after that, in Melbourne, Sydney, both of Pindi’s tests, the game was in our hands after that.

“From encouraging signs, it’s becoming something we’re not good at and we need to improve. When you back the opposition into a corner, you need to be clinical in putting that offense away. Whether it’s Australia or Bangladesh, the response to the mistakes we make is the same.”