Pakistan test cricket team captain Shan Masood opened up about losing a test series against Bangladesh on home ground.
According to Times of India, the Pakistani skipper accepted the mistake and apologised to the whole nation after getting whitewashed by Bangladesh for the first time in history.
Masood told the press, “I take responsibility for the defeats, and I apologise to the nation. But I think we need to focus on how we can improve and take our test side forward.”
He further added, “There is no excuse for losing this series, and we accept that. But it is also a fact that the players also wanted to do well. But we were just not prepared for red ball cricket. We have to tolerate some failures if we are to move forward.”
Masood accepted that playing the test after a long gap of 10 months was not an easy task, suggesting focussing more on fast bowlers and consistently giving chances to the bowlers who are regularly playing test matches.
The 34-year-old top-order batter disagreed with the statement that the last two matches against Bangladesh were the ‘darkest days of Pakistani cricket, saying, “That is not a fair assessment because we can never underestimate any opposition, and I think Bangladesh played more disciplined cricket over us in both Tests.”
Masood emphasised, “I think Bangladesh needs to be respected for their performances; in contrast, we made too many mistakes... In Test cricket, you need to have the fitness to last five days and also have the intensity for five days, and I think that is one area in which we really need to work a lot more.”
Bangladesh won the second and final test of the series by 6 wickets, securing a 2-0 clean sweep against Pakistan.
