Shan Masood, the Pakistan red-ball skipper, refused to step down from captaincy despite the humiliating whitewash against Bangladesh, which has almost ended their hopes for qualification to the WTC finals.
Bangladesh have earned a dominating victory over Pakistan. Having won two consecutive matches, the home side has dominated with the bat and especially with the ball. Litton Das and Mushfiqur Rahim played a fine hand with the bat in the second match.
Mushfiqur was also named the player of the series for his significant contributions throughout the series. The Bangladesh pacers and spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam have not allowed the Pakistan batters to settle across all four innings of the two matches.
Shan Masood refuses to step down as Pakistan's Test skipper
Shan Masood has refused to step down as the captain of the Pakistan Test team. He was retained as the skipper of the Test team despite the PCB announcing several switches in captaincy, as they even snubbed Mohammad Rizwan from ODI captaincy, owing to poor form.
Shan Masood also confirmed that they have committed a lot of mistakes and also claimed to have scored so many runs in the fourth innings of play. He blamed his batters for poor form and pointed out several missed opportunities after handing out stashes with the ball.
He refused to step down from captaincy and has claimed that he, as the skipper, has tried his best out on the field, and the rest is the decision of the PCB.
"You’re going to be punished for any mistake" - Shan Masood
"A lot of mistakes. When you make 360 runs in the fourth innings of a game, you kind of expect to be on the right side of it. But I think in the previous three innings, we had quite a lot to reflect on and things that put us back in the game and made the target a really big one," said Shan Masood after losing the second Test to underdogs Bangladesh.
"Look, I think again, especially when they were 116 for 6; the last four wickets ended up scoring a lot of runs. We missed opportunities, and from there, even with the batting, when we got to 142 for 4, and there were two set batsmen in, in Test cricket, you have to go big.
"So there are things we did in the first three innings; that’s why the effort on the fourth and fifth day didn’t really materialise into a win," the Pakistan skipper added.
Shan Masood says that in Test cricket, mistakes against any team would lead to punishments. He said, "Look, I think in Test cricket you’re going to be punished for any mistake you make. It’s unforgiving, and Test cricket is always played by the best of the best. You’re not going to get any easy games, and you really have to grind results out. I think that’s what we need to do as a side."
Bangladesh take a massive leap over India in the WTC points table
Bangladesh took a massive leap over the Indian team to emerge as the fifth team in the WTC points table. Having won two matches in a row, Bangladesh now have a PCT of 58.33 after they have won two matches and have tied one game while losing one.
Pakistan have slipped to the eighth position in the nine-team points table, as they have now faced three defeats in their campaign. This has lowered their PCT to just 8.33, and hence, they do not have many chances to bounce back and make it to the top 2.
ALSO READ: ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 Points Table: Updated WTC Standings After BAN vs PAK 2nd Test
