Masood calls for longer Bangladesh-Pakistan Test series

Pakistan captain Shan Masood admitted that his side must reflect deeply after suffering a fourth consecutive Test defeat against Bangladesh, but insisted that the fiercely competitive series showed why the two nations should play longer red-ball contests in the future.

Bangladesh completed a historic 2-0 series whitewash with a 78-run victory in Sylhet on Wednesday, extending Pakistan’s losing streak against them to four matches across successive series.

Asked how difficult it was to lose four consecutive Tests against Bangladesh and whether it could be his final match as Pakistan’s Test captain, Masood avoided addressing speculation surrounding his future.

“We only want to talk about the series right now,” he noted.

The Pakistan skipper, however, acknowledged the disappointment of another series defeat and said the visitors had failed to capitalise on crucial moments across both matches.

“If we talk about the series, yes, it’s never good to lose games. But again, in this series, I thought in both matches we’ve had significant chances to do well in the game. I think we have to look at ourselves, we have to reflect on ourselves, whether that’s batting, bowling, or fielding, and see where we lost the game. That’s where I feel we need to go forward as a side,” he said.

Pakistan fought hard during the final day chase in Sylhet through resistance from Mohammad Rizwan and Sajid Khan before eventually collapsing short of the target.

Masood believed the match could still have turned in Pakistan’s favour if they had managed one major partnership at key moments.

“I think it was a very good effort in both innings collectively. But again, in Test cricket, when you’re chasing such a big target, there must be at least a couple of partnerships that go into three figures, and I thought a few of us were short of that,” he stated.

Despite the defeat, the Pakistan captain praised the quality of cricket throughout the series and highlighted the sporting nature of the pitches used in both Tests.

“I think firstly, I’d like to give credit to the people that decided what kind of surfaces we would play on. I think the pitches were brilliant,” he explained.

“We played on pitches where there were runs for the batsmen, there was turn for the spinners, there was pace, bounce and even movement for the seamers. So we had two good cricketing wickets and two good matches,” he added.

Masood also echoed Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto’s call for more Test cricket.

“One of the things that I’ve always been vocal about is that we need to play more Test cricket,” he elucidated. “Whether that’s against Bangladesh or any other opposition, we’d like to play more Test matches.”

The Pakistan skipper argued that two-match series often end before touring teams fully adjust to unfamiliar conditions.

“We’d like to play a series of more matches, not just two-Test series, because sometimes when you come to new places or different places, you take a game to sort of figure things out. So it would be nice if we played three or four games against sides like this,” he concluded.