Pakistan cricket team is way overloaded with troubles and they need to find a quick fix for it. Shan Masood and co. have been winless at home for 1304 days now, which is set to increase by nearly a month as they face England in October. From poor captaincy and team selection to issues with the unity of the side, Pakistan is riddled with multiple issues which need an immediate fix.
Shan Masood factor
Since becoming Pakistan’s Test skipper after taking over the reins from Babar Azam. Shan Masood has been winless. His first outing as captain against Australia resulted in a 0-3 whitewash. It only worsened with the historic 0-2 series defeat in the PAK vs BAN series at home. While the skipper admitted that the side wasn’t living up to the expectations, questions have already been raised about Masood’s captaincy.
For example, Masood and co. made a strategi blunder in the 1st Test by playing an all-pacer attack on a sub-continental pitch in Rawalpindi while it clearly favoured the spinners in the last phase of the game. It resulted in Bangladesh taking the upper hand and securing their first-ever Test victory against Pakistan. Adding fuel to the fire, Masood decided to declare at 448, yet another blunder as Bangladesh only benefited from it.
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The 2nd Test was no less of a horror story for Pakistan as they let the game slip away from their hands after managing to reduce Bangladesh to 26/6 in the 1st innings. Masood went on to admit that he could have gotten more runs with the bat and that the team had a lot of issues to fix.
Will replacing Shan Masood as Pakistan’s Test skipper help in improving their luck? Not likely. The team has already been subjected to frequent captaincy changes and it has only caused the team more harm. Should Pakistan think of returning to winning ways, then it must be done so by focusing on more important issues.
Team unity and selection
Pakistan were obnoxious with their choices in PAK vs BAN series, with glaring omissions made in the bowling department. Misreading the pitch on Day 1 of the 1st Test, the hosts went on to omit spinners from their side, resulting in a disastrous ending. Cut to the 2nd Test, the side rested Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah – two of their premium pacers – in what was a must-win clash. Not to mention, there are already issues of tensions between players and their discipline which came to the fore after the exit from T20 World Cup.
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Can Pakistan still make it to WTC finals?
While the Pakistan Cricket Board has decided not to take any action on the players based on these reports, it is high time the reset button is hit. Pakistan still stand a chance to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final in Lord’s in June 2025. But that’s a tall task at hand. Masood and co. need to win majority of their reminder of seven matches in order to have any hopes of making it to the final. With that being said, Pakistan also have a little over a month to get things in line before England’s tour. From captaincy to team unity, Pakistan have multiple issues at hand that need to be addressed immediately.
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