Shan Masood, Gillespie admit Pakistan still searching for winning formula in home conditions

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Pakistan's Test captain Shan Masood emphasized the need for the team to become more formidable at home in Test cricket. He acknowledged that Pakistan has yet to discover the ideal approach to playing in home conditions.

Since the return of international cricket to Pakistan, the team has secured victories against Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and South Africa in Tests. However, after defeating South Africa in January 2021, Pakistan has struggled, failing to win a single Test in their last three home series. This includes a whitewash by England and a 0-0 draw with New Zealand.

"In Test cricket, which is the ultimate challenge in the game, you have to be familiar with certain conditions," Masood said on the PCB podcast, in which he was interviewed alongside Test coach Jason Gillespie, by former cricketer Bazid Khan. "Yes, we've been playing at home since 2019, but other teams have been playing on their home soils for much longer. We still have to decide what our best approach at home is.

"If I'm being brutally honest, in home Test matches, because they've been played at different times of the year and against different nations, we still haven't found our ideal way of playing at home that suits our batting, bowling, and overall style. That's something we need to quickly figure out.

"We need to determine what helps us win as a team. How can we create conditions that suit us more and put us in the driving seat, rather than just thinking about how we can cope with the opposition?" Masood said.

Pakistan’s Test head coach, Jason Gillespie, shared Masood's sentiments, highlighting the importance of developing a distinct identity in home conditions. He acknowledged that this process will take time, as the team plays on varied surfaces across different regions of the country.

"I think the identity will sort itself out. In this next period of time, seven Test matches out of nine are in Pakistan, which is fantastic," Gillespie said. "I echo Shan's sentiments - it would be great to play more Test cricket. The PCB is exploring ways to have more Shaheens (Pakistan A) games and four-day cricket to bridge the gap between domestic and international cricket. As for identity and playing in Pakistan, there are varying surfaces and conditions depending on whether you're in the north or south of the country. I don't think that will be resolved right now. It will be a process to figure out exactly what surfaces we want to play on going forward.

"But I firmly believe we've got all bases covered, whether it's fast bowling, slower bowling, or playing on faster, bouncier tracks that offer more assistance to seamers, or surfaces that are lower and slower. We need to be flexible and adaptable, but we'll certainly have a basic blueprint on how we want to play our games."

Masood also called for Pakistan to play more Test cricket to build consistency. He noted that while domestic cricket in Pakistan is robust, with players participating in numerous first-class matches, the team needs more opportunities to play Test matches.

"We need more Test cricket. We play a lot of domestic cricket, so I don't think we can blame that. We do play ten first-class matches minimum, and with the introduction of departmental cricket, some players ended up playing 16-17 first-class matches in a year," Masood said.

"For me, it's more about how we can get our team to play more Test matches. That comes down to scheduling, reducing the gaps, and ensuring we have consistent Test squads going forward. We're playing nine Test matches in four months, but we've also had to deal with an unfortunate calendar where we played in Australia, and then we're playing our next Test after ten months. These are challenges that Pakistan cricket needs to address going forward," he added.