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Pakistan Test skipper Shan Masood has criticized his players for not maintaining the right fitness standards after the team's shocking defeat against Bangladesh. On September 3, Pakistan lost the second Test against Bangladesh, and thus the series, by six wickets after reducing them to 26/6 in the first innings. Before this series, Men in Green had never lost a Test match to Bangladesh, let alone a series.
During the post-match press conference, Masood expressed his disappointment with the series while slamming teammates for their poor fitness standards. Masood said and said, “Extremely disappointed, especially when you start the home season, something we've all been very excited about. We waited 10 months for this opportunity. The story is the same like Australia. We haven't learnt our lessons.”
Speaking about his side’s fitness, he added, “The fitness with we played the last game with four fast bowlers, and there's a big reason behind it because in these conditions we thought that the load on three might have been a lot, and that proved to be true in this game when we played three and a spinner, we lost a fast bowler in each innings.”
“To play with Agha as the spinner, Abrar is a spinner and two specialist fast bowlers. I don't think that's enough. We could have done with Daisy (Mohammad Ali). Unfortunately, he fell ill, but those are the harsh realities. I think Test cricket demands you to be fit for five days; whether that's a batsman or a bowler, there's five days of testing of your physical and mental fitness and that's something we really need to work on,” Pakistan Test skipper added.
Pakistan has not won a Test at home since 2021
The last time Pakistan won a Test match at home was way back in February 2021. At that time, they beat South Africa in Rawalpindi. Since then, the Asian side hosted Australia, England, New Zealand, and Bangladesh. Against these teams, Pakistan have played 10 matches combined, and ended up losing six games, while four matches ended in a draw.
The Shan Masood-led side will host the Three Lions again in October this year for a three-match Test series. As reported by ESPNcricinfo last month, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is waiting for an England-based broadcaster to purchase the telecast rights for the series.
