'We have not learnt our lessons, need to get fitter, neater and prepare better' - Shan Masood after Bangladesh series defeat

After a heartbreaking defeat in the first Test, Pakistan were expected to be motivated to come back stronger in the second game and pick up a win. That didn’t happen, though, as the opposition once again stunned the hosts to pick up a six-wicket win and seal the series. There was immense pressure already on captain Shan Masood, especially after a whitewash in Down Under, and now a series defeat at home has only aggravated things.

After the series defeat, the Pakistani skipper stated that he was extremely disappointed and added that the players have learned nothing from the defeat to Australia in 2023. He analysed that under his captaincy, which comprises five matches only, four times Pakistan let the match slip from their hands. He expects the team to get better in that and also expects a higher standard of fitness from the players.

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“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. 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,” the losing captain said in the post-match presentation.

“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,” he added.

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Pakistan played four pacers in the first game which backfired and that led to them losing the game by 10 wickets. In the second fixture, the team management changed the strategy and brought in a couple of spinners, who replaced mainstay pacers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah. However, the move backfired, which led Masood to wonder if Pakistan played a bowler short in the crucial game.

“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,” Masood concluded.