Shan Masood backs Pakistan to play attractive Test cricket

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Pakistan skipper Shan Masood is looking to make the most of their upcoming Test series against Australia from the perspective of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

Pakistan begin their three-Test series against Australia in Perth tomorrow, 14 December. This will be Pakistan’s first bilateral visit to play red-ball cricket in four years. 

While the Men in Green have found Australia to be a tough prospect historically, their captain Masood was looking at the bigger picture.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the first game, Masood stated that Australia would be the perfect place to gauge where the side stands in the World Test Championship.

“When you talk about the bigger picture, there’s the World Test Championship. So every Test match, every single point counts,” Masood added. “And it’s a two-year cycle, so we’ve got a lot of other Test matches to play as well. So Australia is the perfect place to start, [the] perfect place to gauge where we are as a team and take it from there.”

The last time Pakistan won a Test in Australia was in 1995. Since then they’ve lost 14 Tests in a row in the country. However, Masood wasn’t too concerned about Pakistan’s past and wanted his team to focus on the process. 

“It’s best to look at the bigger picture as a side, look at the process, look at how we want to play cricket and take results as a by-product. If we play good cricket for five days consistently, I am sure we’ll be on the right end of certain results. 

“So for us right now, it's how we grow as a side, how do we go forward as a side. And if we do the right things for a long period of time, we’ll be on the right side.”

Masood backed his side to play attractive Test cricket and believed this team had great potential.

“We want to go forward as a side, play attractive Test cricket and if the results come our way, yes [that’s good]. But if they don’t, we’ll try to go back to the drawing board and try to rectify our mistakes, but I see a lot of potential in this side. A lot of players who can take Pakistan forward. For us, it is about the bigger picture and playing good cricket, and making sure we can compete against the best and this is the perfect opportunity.”

Pakistan banked on an aggressive approach during their 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka earlier this year. Masood stated that the side would follow the same philosophy against Australia.

“It’s the same group of players. An addition here or there. So I think the philosophy of the guys is going to stay the same. And again it's a perfect opportunity to play a decent brand of cricket against the best in the world. We’re really looking forward to this exciting challenge.”

“You need to create time and space for those 20 wickets to occur. A lot of times you can play on a deck suited to batting, so how do you create those 20 wickets? You can create that by scoring a bit quicker. 

“We’re not talking about going gung-ho or anything like that but just play the way that suits you, suits your game, and also [keeps in mind] the opposition.

“If you allow a good opposition bowl in an area all day long, they’ll have your number. It’s picking your battles, and it’s about being sensible. It’s about seeing the requirement of the game.”