Pakistan captain Shan Masood lauded the spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan, who shared 20 wickets between them in the second Test, to defeat England by 152 runs in Multan on Friday. The hosts made four changes in their playing 11 and opted for the re-used pitch that hosted the series opener last week. Pakistan went in with three pacers – Noman Ali, Sajid Khan and Zahid Mehmood – and one pacer Aamer Jamal while right-handed batter Kamaran Ghulam was handed his Test debut.

The move worked for Pakistan as Sajid bagged nine wickets and was named Player of the Match. On the other hand, Noman Ali clinched 11 scalps including figures of 8-46 in the second innings. Debutant Kamran Ghulam also scored a century in his debut knock to guide the side to 366 in the first innings.

Talking about their performance in the match, Masood expressed satisfaction with the result and credited Noman and Sajid for taking their brilliant spells.

“We are just glad that we were able to put the plans in place, get 20 wickets and were able to back it up some decent first and second innings scores. A change of strategy for us. We tried going green seamers against Bangladesh, we were a bit off. Sometimes you have to look at the opposition also, look at what the ground can provide. We haven’t played a lot of Test cricket in Multan. The only one was two years ago that offered some spin so we thought why not try to do something and make something like that,” the captain said after the match.

“Noman and Sajid coming in, it’s never easy and they looked like two seasoned campaigners. Second innings, we didn’t even need a third bowler and that speaks volumes for them. It’s a collective effort and what matters in team sport is chipping those 20-30 runs, putting those efforts in the field. Zahid didn’t bowl much but he was running around, he was there for the team, same with Jamal who scored some vital runs. Noman and Sajid were the front-runners and everyone chipped in,” he added.

It was not only Pakistan’s first Test win at home after 11 games but also Masood’s maiden victory as Test captain. “First one is always special, it has come after some hard times. A lot has happened over the last week,” he said.

“For everyone to work together, to come up with a strategy to pick 20 wickets and make it happen, that’s the most satisfying thing. You have to applaud the group. They have been hungry. You can’t doubt the effort of the guys and their commitment. It’ll be special for everyone because it’s come after some tough times and it’s kept us hungry,” Masood added.

The home captain also lauded Kamran Ghulam for his debut Test hundred in the pressure situation. “For Kami (Kamran Ghulam), it’s never easy. When you are replacing one of the best batters in the world … I read some things that were horrid even before he played his first Test match. I can’t even imagine the pressure that someone can be under. But we were all behind him. From the get go, he seemed like he belonged. To get that century, that’s special,” Masood said.

“Agha is probably one of my favourite players, he’s a team player. For him to play in those pressure situations and get something for the team, that’s special. There have been some front-runners, there have also been some really nice small contributions. Even Saim Ayub played very maturely. Everything added up and that’s what a team effort is,” he signed off.

–IANS

ab/bc

Pakistan cricket is going through a disappointing low. The side suffered a 2-0 whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh in a recently-concluded Test series. Bangladesh inflicted a six-wicket defeat on the home team in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Tuesday to complete the clean sweep. It also saw Bangladesh, who had won the first game by 10 wickets, registering their first ever Test series win over Pakistan. While the home team was humiliated by Bangladesh, Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood too achieved an unwanted feat.

Masood has become the first captain from the nation to lose his five Test matches. He was appointed as Pakistan Test skipper in November last year after Babar Azam had stepped down from the role.

Masood broke the record of Javed Burki, who lost his first three Test matches as Pakistan captain.

“We will have to work on bringing in consistency in selection. You will have to bear with player’s failures. You will have to search where you will get that player who can be an automatic selection on current form. Since, we’re not playing red ball cricket currently, we don’t have many options to pick from,” Masood said after Pakistan’s series defeat.

“I am not worried for my job security. I took this job to make the changes we believe will help this team. If I believe this team can go in a certain direction, even if my personal failure takes Pakistan in that direction, I will be content. However much time I get I’ll be grateful for and do my best,” he added.

Pakistan fell to their worst Test ranking in nearly six decades on Wednesday, the International Cricket Council said, after their shock 2-0 series defeat to low-ranked Bangladesh.

“Pakistan dropped two places — from sixth to eighth — in the Test rankings after suffering a shock series loss at home to Bangladesh,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.

The ICC said it was “their lowest rankings since 1965” in the 12-team table, which is topped by Australia followed by India and England. Bangladesh are ninth in the latest rankings

There are now no Pakistan bowlers ranked in the top 10 after paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi fell to 11th from his ninth place before the Bangladesh series.

Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistani remaining in the top 10 batting rankings, while Babar Azam dropped three places to 12th.

Azam managed just 64 runs in the two Tests against Bangladesh.

(With AFP Inputs)

Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood was seen getting furious in the dressing room and having an animated discussion with the side’s head coach Jason Gillespie, who is also a legendary Australian pacer, on Day 3 of the first Rawalpindi Test against Bangladesh. A video of the incident is going viral on social media. While it is evident in the surfaced clip that Masood is angry over something, the fans on internet surprisingly linked it to Babar Azam’s dropped catch, an incident that took a day later. On the fourth ball of the 142nd over of the Bangladesh innings, Mushfiqur Rahim edged an Agha Salman delivery but Babar at leg slip dropped the easy chance.

Big Kalesh b/w PCT players (Pakistani captain Shan masood angry on Babar azam drops catch and his performance)#PAKvsBAN #Cricket pic.twitter.com/EKKGwjqm2f

— DK Gupta (@dkgupta2071981) August 24, 2024

Big fight between pct players,

Pakistani captain Shan masood angry on Babar azam drop catch and his performance pic.twitter.com/BVhTtfzSW6

— AB de villiers (parody) (@virashtra18) August 24, 2024

While the catch from Babar was dropped on the fourth day of the match, the viral video of Masood is from the third day.

Babar Azam dropped the catch of Mushfiqur Rahim.#PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/VzhaEtm2yH

— (@CallMeSheri1) August 24, 2024

Senior batter Mushfiqur hit a brilliant 191 on the fourth day of the first Test in Rawalpindi on Saturday, giving Bangladesh an outside chance of a maiden victory over Pakistan.

The diminutive batter was the foundation of Bangladesh’s first innings score of 565 — their highest Test total against Pakistan — and gave the visitors a first innings lead of 117.

Pakistan were 23-1 at the close of play, with Abdullah Shafique on 12 and skipper Shan Masood on nine. The home team trail by 94 runs after making 448-6 declared in the first innings.

Bangladesh, who have lost 12 of the 13 Tests against Pakistan, will hope their spinners can extract some turn from a Rawalpindi pitch that has been unresponsive so far.

Pakistan once again started badly when opener Saim Ayub edged a good-length ball from Shoriful Islam to wicketkeeper Liton Das after scoring just a single in the third over of their second innings.

However, the day belonged to Mushfiqur, who added 114 with Das (56) for the sixth wicket and then a record 194 for the seventh wicket with Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who made a solid 77.

Bangladesh’s previous Test best against Pakistan was the 555-6 they made at Khulna in 2015.

(With AFP Inputs)