Shan Masood justifies playing four pacers and declaration tactics

Masood explained that the team had anticipated the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers

PHOTO: PCB

Pakistan's Test captain, Shan Masood, has spoken out following the team's disappointing loss to Bangladesh in the first Test at Rawalpindi, defending the decision to field four pacers and the timing of Pakistan's first innings declaration.

Reflecting on the choice to include four fast bowlers in the playing XI, Masood during the media conference, explained that the team had anticipated the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers.

“Looking at the pitch, we expected it to do more. If we played 3 fast bowlers, we would be pushing them to the limit and the spinner would be bowling 25-30 overs a day, which we wanted to avoid. We thought that with the weather, it may not even last the full 5 days. At the end of the day, we got it wrong,” Masood said.

The top order batter also addressed the declaration decision, which left Pakistan in a precarious position as they attempted to push for a result.

“Hindsight’s 20/20. The reason for the declaration was a positive push - to push the game forward and hopefully have a crack at them in the 4th innings. We could have done with those runs but there were also things with the ball and in the field that we could’ve done better to either take a lead or keep them at par,” he said.

Bangladesh achieved their first-ever Test victory against Pakistan, winning by 10 wickets in Rawalpindi. Chasing just 30 runs, openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam guided Bangladesh to the target in 6.3 overs without losing a wicket.

Pakistan, starting the day at 65 for 2, crumbled against Bangladesh’s spinners, losing their last eight wickets for just 81 runs. Babar Azam’s early dismissal for 22 triggered the collapse, with Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan taking four and three wickets respectively.

Despite Mohammad Rizwan’s 51, Pakistan was bowled out for 146, sealing a historic win for Bangladesh.

Scores in brief (day 5 of 5):

Pakistan 448-6d (Mohammad Rizwan 171 not out, Saud Shakeel 141, Saim Ayub 56, Shaheen Shah Afridi 29 not out; Hasan Mahmud 2-70, Shoriful Islam 2-77) and 146 all-out (Mohammad Rizwan 51, Abdullah Shafique 37, Babar Azam 22; Mehidy Hasan Miraz 4-21, Shakib Al Hasan 3-44)

Bangladesh 565 all-out, 167.3 overs (Mushfiqur Rahim 191, Shadman Islam 93, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 77, Litton Das 56, Mominul Haque 50; Naseem Shah 3-93, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-88, Mohammad Ali 2-88, Khurram Shahzad 2-90) and 30-0