Pakistan’s third straight Test loss to Bangladesh left Shan Masood openly admitting that responsibility sits with everyone in the dressing-room. The captain was speaking minutes after a 104-run defeat in Mirpur, a result sealed when Pakistan were bowled out for 163 in 52.5 overs while chasing 268.
“The boys and the whole team will have to take responsibility,” he said. “But we should look at all that we can do to improve the Pakistan team. As a team, we will have to self-reflect.”
Bangladesh had declared late in the morning session, setting a target of 268 from a possible 75 overs. Realistically, bad light was always going to chop a few of those, yet the hosts needed barely 53 overs to finish the job. Seven Pakistan wickets tumbled in the final session.
Masood said no firm decision had been made in the fourth innings about chasing or shutting up shop. “The mind was pretty clear, we just said that we would go out there and bat normally,” he explained. “The wicket seemed decent, there was some element of spin from the rough. We said to the batsmen that as a collective batting unit, we’ll keep batting, we’ll see what position we’re in at tea and then we’ll take it from there.”
At tea, Pakistan were 116 for 3, Salman Agha and debutant Abdullah Fazal having added 50 for the fourth wicket. They were still 152 runs away but, with seven wickets standing, both results felt possible. Then came the decisive twist: Fazal nicked off, Agha mis-read a cutter, and Mohammad Rizwan overturned a first-ball lbw only to fall soon after. From 124 for 3, Pakistan slid to 148 for 7 and the game was gone.
Masood felt that was the point where pragmatism should have kicked in. “You assess conditions and situations at certain points,” he said. “When the target was set, our mindset was to bat and to see how the game goes. In Test cricket, you’ll always be respectful of the good balls and then you’ll try to put any scoring opportunities away for runs. I think we were in a good position at tea. And then after tea we lost some wickets and in terms of game-sense I thought that’s where a few of the batsmen could have really realised that we’re a bit far away from the target and it’s better to keep ourselves in the game. I thought we lost wickets at the wrong time and we could have made better cricketing decisions.”
Bangladesh’s approach to this Test was notably un-Bangladeshi. Rather than lean on spin for attrition, they produced a grassy surface and backed three quicks. The move worked. New-ball pair Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam shared 13 wickets, Mehidy Hasan Miraz picked up the rest with timely off-spin, and Pakistan never once reached 300 in either innings.
Former Pakistan batter Bazid Khan, on commentary duty, felt the visitors underestimated the pitch. “A green-top in the sub-continent can be a trap,” he said during the closing stages. “You look at it and think ‘we’ll bowl them out quickly’, but you still have to bat last on it.”
For Pakistan, problems seem to pile up. The top order has produced a solitary half-century across three innings on tour. Rizwan’s promotion to No.5 is yet to click, and the bowling – half a yard down on pace – struggled once the initial shine went. Small margins, yes, yet Test cricket rarely forgives.
Bangladesh, meanwhile, look a side transformed under new coach Chandika Hathurusingha. The skipper, Najmul Hossain Shanto, praised the attack’s adaptability. “We wanted to move away from the stereotype,” he said at the presentation. “On this pitch the seamers were always in the game, and they delivered.”
Masood accepted that, ultimately, Pakistan will be judged by the scoreline. “Test cricket doesn’t forgive you. Until you play the perfect game, until you take the game’s situation into account, or make fewer mistakes, then in Test cricket, you’re always on the other side of the result.”
A harsh lesson, then, but the series is not yet lost. Dhaka hosts the second Test in a week’s time, and Pakistan have limited runway to address familiar failings: early wickets, middle-order wobbles and a bowling unit that starts fast but fades. The captain wants cool heads; the schedule offers almost no time to find them.
