Pakistan’s captain, Shan Masood, wore the disappointment of a historic clean sweep defeat at the hands of Bangladesh clearly on his face. Bangladesh, needing 143 runs on the final day with 10 wickets in hand, chased down the target with ease, losing just four wickets before Shakib Al Hasan sealed the win with a boundary. This marked only Bangladesh’s second bilateral series win of two or more Tests away from home, their first since their 2009 triumph against the West Indies. The visitors won the opening Test by 10 wickets and wrapped up the second in just four days, despite the first day being washed out in Rawalpindi.
Masood voiced his frustration, stating, “Extremely disappointed, we were excited for the home season. The story has been the same as Australia, we have not learnt our lessons. We thought we were playing good cricket in Australia but not doing the job, that’s something we need to work on.” He continued, lamenting the team’s recurring failures: “It has happened 4 times in my tenure that we have left the team back into the contest when we were dominating. I think Test cricket demands something else in terms of fitness. We played 4 fast bowlers in the first Test and the reason was we thought the workload would be too much for three people to manage. And that was proved in this game when we lost a fast bowler in each innings. I think even in this Test match, having just 3 bowlers and 2 spinners was less, we could have done with another pacer.”
Reflecting on the missed opportunities in the first innings, Masood acknowledged, “274 was a good score in the first innings, me and Saim could have got more runs like Litton. But we should have done better from having them at 26/6. That’s something we need to work on and work on quickly. It isn’t all doom and gloom, there are always learnings. We got Shaheen and Naseem back in the fold, Shaheen has played consistently for a year across formats and we can’t keep throwing him in the deep end. But we need to get fitter, neater and prepare better. It is going to be a long Test and domestic season and we need to be better prepared for England.”
This defeat against Bangladesh extends Pakistan’s miserable home record in Tests to 10 matches without a win. The last home victory for Pakistan came in December 2021 against South Africa in Rawalpindi. Since assuming the captaincy last year, Masood has faced two consecutive clean sweeps, previously losing 3-0 to Australia. The clean sweep serves as a stark reminder of the challenges ahead for Pakistan, demanding a renewed focus on fitness, preparation, and tactical adjustments to turn the tide in their upcoming series against England.
