Shan Masood reflects on Pakistan's series loss to Australia

Test captain Shan Masood shared his insights on Pakistan's performance, making comparisons with a past encounter in Melbourne following a 3-0 whitewash defeat against Australia.

In a recent post-series conference, Masood highlighted the significance of taking an early lead but acknowledged missed opportunities that allowed Australia to capitalize, reminiscent of a situation in the second Test.

“Taking a lead, missing a few chances, it's a bit of Déjà vu since Melbourne, Australia went searching for wickets, we left the gate open and they made full use of it,” Shan Masood said.

The left-hand batter discussed the team's batting display, highlighting that in a realistic scenario, they would have aimed for a total exceeding 200. He underscored the importance of batters refraining from unnecessary risks.

“Realistically, we would have liked anything over 200, that doesn't make batter take that many risks early on so I think we were quite a few runs short and Australia bowled really well again we are learning it the hard way," he said.

Despite individual contributions, the skipper also highlighted a collective challenge the team faced.

“Rizwan top scored but nobody got over 200 runs this series, If we can make those little improvements, grab those chances, make fifties into hundred, so little improvements could help us. We got 10 months to play the next Test match so plenty of time to get back and re-apply,” he concluded.

It is worth noting that Australia convincingly defeated Pakistan, completing a clean sweep in the three-match Test series with a 3-0 victory. 

In the final Test, the hosts were set a target of 130 runs, and they successfully chased it down, losing only two wickets in the process.