Shan Masood breaks silence on Abrar Ahmed's exclusion for the 1st Test against Bangladesh

Pakistan captain Shan Masood has finally spoken up on his team's decision to opt for four pacers in the Playing XI for the first Test against Bangladesh. Two days before the first Test, Pakistan named the Playing XI for the first Test.

Surprisingly, legspinner Abrar Ahmed, who was the only specialist spinner in Pakistan's squad, wasn't picked for the Test match at Rawalpindi.

It came as a huge surprise as Pakistan opted to go with four specialist fast bowlers and one spin-bowling all-rounder in the form of Agha Salman.

The decision was heavily criticized by Pakistan's former cricketers Basit Ali and Kamran Akmal who claimed that such spinners won't allow the spinners to grow at all.

Abrar has played six Tests for Pakistan and picked up 38 wickets. He already has 2 five-wicket hauls to his name.

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Shan Masood explains why Pakistan opted to go without a spinner for 1st Test

During a pre-match press conference, Shan Masood elaborated the reasoning behind Pakistan's all-pace attack for the first Test at Rawalpindi.

Masood claimed that the conditions in Rawalpindi are not favourable for the spinners even in domestic cricket and Pakistan wants to follow the same path.

“In Rawalpindi, whenever we have played domestic cricket, the conditions have favored the seamers and the batters. Spin-bowling hasn’t been such big threat. So we want to take what we do in domestic cricket forward rather than applying something new, which we don’t normally get in Rawalpindi,” Masood said.

Usually, the conditions in Rawalpindi are good for batting. However, when the ball gets old, reverse swing is available for the fast bowlers.

Pakistan's decision to go without any spinner can also be because the country has been struggling to produce a Test-quality spinner for years since Yasir Shah's dip in form.

Abrar Ahmed released to play for Pakistan Shaheens

The four fast bowlers picked by Pakistan for this Test match are Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali, and Khurram Shehzad. Abrar Ahmed was earlier expected to play as he was the sole spinner in the squad.

But he was released from the squad to play for Pakistan Shaheens in the second match against Bangladesh A. Abrar will be available for the second Test match of the series, which will also be played at Rawalpindi from August 30.

Abrar's absence means Agha Salman must chip in with his useful off-spin bowling. Salman is no mug with the ball and has picked up 12 wickets in 12 Tests. However, the bulk of the work will be expected to be done by the fast bowlers.

This is just the second time in 28 years that Pakistan has opted to go with an all-pace attack in a Test match. Before this, the Men in Green decided to go with four pacers in 2019 against Sri Lanka when Test cricket made a comeback in the country after a long gap of 10 years.

Pakistan Playing XI for the 1st Test against Bangladesh

Shan Masood (C), Abdullah Shafique, Saim Ayub, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (VC), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shehzad, and Mohammad Ali