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Our esteemed poster, @mominsaigol takes a hard and painful look at Pakistan's home Test series debacle against Bangladesh and wonders if more turbulent times lie ahead when the English tourists arrive soon.
With the conclusion of the Bangladesh vs Pakistan 2024 test series, it is now clear as day that Pakistani fans are currently living in Pakistan's worst era not just in test but for every format.
Gone are the days where our test side use to be ranked no 1 in Cricket's most historic format under the leadership of Misbah.
If someone had told me 8 years ago that Pakistan are playing against Bangladesh on home turn, most of us fans wouldn't have taken much interest to the series. After all, what so special about watching a no 1 ranked test side face off against a weak opposition on home turf?
Sadly, those days are of an era gone by, as with the conclusion of this test series, it felt more like Bangladesh were playing against a minnow team on their home turf rather than the other way around.
There is just no simple way to put this, Bangladesh outplayed Pakistan from all angles during this 2 match test series. They were more professional in their batting and bowling approach, the gap in skill and fitness was clearly visible to anyone who followed the game, and they just had better tactics followed by a calmer approach while Pakistan seemed to panic frantically and never looked comfortable even once while playing against this opposition.
To top it off, things don't get any easier. Pakistan has failed to win a home test series for a while now with their best efforts only leading to a draw against NZ. They got whitewashed by Australia on foreign Aussie soil, got eliminated by USA in group stages in the 2024 T20 World Cup, and have now gotten whitewashed by Bangladesh on home soil, and things do not get any easier with upcoming series against England, South Africa and Australia right around the corner things are looking very dire.
Before we deep dive into an analysis of what went wrong
I think we must first give a round of applause to Bangladesh as a cricket team. Despite the country facing turmoil, they bravely walked into our home turf and conquered Pakistan. Every player played professionally well and at the end of the day, they were the better team, With the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, showcasing their experience and their young blood Rana, Hasan Mahmud and among others showcasing insane amounts of talent and skill.
Well done to the Bangladeshi team and all its supporters.
Now moving on to Pakistan team itself
The first question we must ask is the placement Shan Masood in the squad?
When Shan Masood was appointed as captain prior to the Australian series, he was met with a polarising reception. I mean how could a player who wasn't even mainstay in the squad itself averaging a meagre 28 over a span of 10 years solidifying himself as one of the weakest openers/top order bats to represent the team automatically get captaincy in Cricket's most historic and iconic format?
However, given the fact that the team had failed under Sarfaraz and Babar, maybe having a British educated and well English spoken captain might have been the straightway forward. After all, Misbah himself was a degree holder, well-educated and his on-field tactics alongside his leadership were key to leading Pakistan to no 1 rank. Could Shan Masood be the secret formula to success that we were missing?
Sadly, however it was not to be, Shan has now captained Pakistan in 5 Test matches losing all of them and continuing his winless streak. During the Bangladesh Test series, he made questionable decisions that may have impacted the game such as follows
1) Placing Salman Ali Agha in slips when agha dropped multiple catches and proved himself to be an incapable slip fielder.
2) Questionable field placements such as pushing the fielders back allowing Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Meraz to recover Bangladesh from 26-6 and ensuring Pakistan only acquire a 12-run lead.
3) Declaring at 448 for 6 against Bangladesh which in hindsight ended up being an extremely poor decision.
4) Seeking Sarfaraz Ahmed's advice after being clueless on field.
What's worse is that Shan didn't even impress with the bat or show a calm attitude that was expected from him as a captain. Shan only averaged 26 with the bat in this series with one half century to his name. Hardly impressive numbers but what was shocking was his behaviour throughout the first Test game. Frequently picking fights with coaches and umpires for decisions made about his dismissal in the game.
With poor form, Poor attitude, poor on-field decisions and finally a 5-0 winless streak, when will PCB finally put their foot down and acknowledge that Shan Masood is not the right man to lead Pakistan. If PCB however does decide to stick with Shan against England and South Africa Test series, then all I can say, I hope Shan can make use of his luck, as time is running out.
The second thing to note is the lack of performance from our players and the rest of the camp.
Our most experienced pacer (Shaheen Shah Afridi) failed to take any notable wickets in the first game. Only managing to dismiss Mehidy Hasan Miraz when Bangladesh had already crossed 500+ and taken a massive lead. And taking the wicket of Hasan Mahmud who is a tail ender.
What's worse, none of our other pacers were effective at all during this series. Unlike Bangladesh pacers who were casually hitting 140 clicks, and in the case of rana 145 to 152 clicks, our bowlers were struggling to cross even 130kph at times. Commentator Aamer Sohail even noted and commented about the severe lack of fitness from pacers causing the decline in speeds.
And while Khurram Shehzad and mir Hamza were effective in the first innings of the 2nd test with accurate line and length and the pitch helped them seam, they were able to reduce Bangladesh down to 26-6, but as soon as the pitch freshened up, our bowlers lack of pace and variation did not trouble the batters at all.
The spin department wasn't any better. The spinner Abrar Ahmed who Pakistan hyped up as the next best thing after the days of Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah, was given the minnow treatment, only taking 1 wicket across both innings in a losing cause.
Our batters however were even worse. I've already gone into detail about Shan Masood failing badly however what's shocking is that every single batter failed for Pakistan with the exception of Rizwan and Saud Shakeel who managed to score a 100 in the first Test and in Rizwan's case score a hard gritty half century alongside the tail in the 2nd innings.
Saim Ayub who has been frequently hyped up was finally up to get his 1st and 2nd international half century after 26 international games for his team, but both 50's were in the realm of soft scoring and did not overall help Pakistan in the long run.
Pakistani fans needed Saim to score in his 2nd innings to make an impact and seal Bangladesh's fate but instead he vanished and fell under pressure.
Babar Azam Pakistan's star batsmen alongside Abdullah Shafique felt like passengers in the side, performing extremely poorly with an average of 16 (Babar) and 10.5 (Abdullah) respectively.
Case in point, be it our experienced batters/experienced bowlers or inexperienced batters/inexperienced bowlers, Pakistan collectively failed as a unit.
So, with all that being said, the questions we need to ask are
Q1: What now for Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Babar Azam?
Shan as captain, Shaheen as our star pacer and Babar as Pakistan's star batter have been failing for years now, it's safe to say that we can no longer call their form a purple patch and their lack of fitness and poor attitude is also a concern.
But with the severe lack of talent and suitable replacements in the ranks, can we really afford to axe our captain, our star pacer and axe our former star batter? And if we do drop them, who do we choose as a viable long-term replacement?
Q2: Why has the talent dried up? Why are the upcoming crop of players showcasing such poor form?
Be it Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali or Abrar Ahmed, everyone who has been introduced has been equally poor or worse than Babar, Shan and Shaheen.
But why? Why is the talent pool drying up? Is it due to lack of quality pitches? PSL? What is the reason that a country that has produced the likes of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and many many more has now been reduced to choosing teams based on mediocre talent?
Q: What is the role of Mohsin Naqvi, Gary Kristen and Jason Gillespie?
Our coaches at the moment have produced poor results. So, what are they even doing? What's the reason that they have not been able to at the very least show some signs of improvement? Infact Pakistan seems to be regressing further and further.
And what was the surgery that Naqvi promised us? So far, I and by extension Pakistani fans don't see any notable difference?
Final Conclusions
So many questions have been asked to which we do not have an answer to. All I can say is that after this whitewash, things are only going to get worse from here on out with the likes of England approaching our home turf very very soon.
If major surgery is not achieved, then it's safe to say that Pakistan cricket is headed into very turbulent times ahead.
With the conclusion of the Bangladesh vs Pakistan 2024 test series, it is now clear as day that Pakistani fans are currently living in Pakistan's worst era not just in test but for every format.
Gone are the days where our test side use to be ranked no 1 in Cricket's most historic format under the leadership of Misbah.
If someone had told me 8 years ago that Pakistan are playing against Bangladesh on home turn, most of us fans wouldn't have taken much interest to the series. After all, what so special about watching a no 1 ranked test side face off against a weak opposition on home turf?
Sadly, those days are of an era gone by, as with the conclusion of this test series, it felt more like Bangladesh were playing against a minnow team on their home turf rather than the other way around.
There is just no simple way to put this, Bangladesh outplayed Pakistan from all angles during this 2 match test series. They were more professional in their batting and bowling approach, the gap in skill and fitness was clearly visible to anyone who followed the game, and they just had better tactics followed by a calmer approach while Pakistan seemed to panic frantically and never looked comfortable even once while playing against this opposition.
To top it off, things don't get any easier. Pakistan has failed to win a home test series for a while now with their best efforts only leading to a draw against NZ. They got whitewashed by Australia on foreign Aussie soil, got eliminated by USA in group stages in the 2024 T20 World Cup, and have now gotten whitewashed by Bangladesh on home soil, and things do not get any easier with upcoming series against England, South Africa and Australia right around the corner things are looking very dire.
Before we deep dive into an analysis of what went wrong
I think we must first give a round of applause to Bangladesh as a cricket team. Despite the country facing turmoil, they bravely walked into our home turf and conquered Pakistan. Every player played professionally well and at the end of the day, they were the better team, With the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, showcasing their experience and their young blood Rana, Hasan Mahmud and among others showcasing insane amounts of talent and skill.
Well done to the Bangladeshi team and all its supporters.
Now moving on to Pakistan team itself
The first question we must ask is the placement Shan Masood in the squad?
When Shan Masood was appointed as captain prior to the Australian series, he was met with a polarising reception. I mean how could a player who wasn't even mainstay in the squad itself averaging a meagre 28 over a span of 10 years solidifying himself as one of the weakest openers/top order bats to represent the team automatically get captaincy in Cricket's most historic and iconic format?
However, given the fact that the team had failed under Sarfaraz and Babar, maybe having a British educated and well English spoken captain might have been the straightway forward. After all, Misbah himself was a degree holder, well-educated and his on-field tactics alongside his leadership were key to leading Pakistan to no 1 rank. Could Shan Masood be the secret formula to success that we were missing?
Sadly, however it was not to be, Shan has now captained Pakistan in 5 Test matches losing all of them and continuing his winless streak. During the Bangladesh Test series, he made questionable decisions that may have impacted the game such as follows
1) Placing Salman Ali Agha in slips when agha dropped multiple catches and proved himself to be an incapable slip fielder.
2) Questionable field placements such as pushing the fielders back allowing Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Meraz to recover Bangladesh from 26-6 and ensuring Pakistan only acquire a 12-run lead.
3) Declaring at 448 for 6 against Bangladesh which in hindsight ended up being an extremely poor decision.
4) Seeking Sarfaraz Ahmed's advice after being clueless on field.
What's worse is that Shan didn't even impress with the bat or show a calm attitude that was expected from him as a captain. Shan only averaged 26 with the bat in this series with one half century to his name. Hardly impressive numbers but what was shocking was his behaviour throughout the first Test game. Frequently picking fights with coaches and umpires for decisions made about his dismissal in the game.
With poor form, Poor attitude, poor on-field decisions and finally a 5-0 winless streak, when will PCB finally put their foot down and acknowledge that Shan Masood is not the right man to lead Pakistan. If PCB however does decide to stick with Shan against England and South Africa Test series, then all I can say, I hope Shan can make use of his luck, as time is running out.
The second thing to note is the lack of performance from our players and the rest of the camp.
Our most experienced pacer (Shaheen Shah Afridi) failed to take any notable wickets in the first game. Only managing to dismiss Mehidy Hasan Miraz when Bangladesh had already crossed 500+ and taken a massive lead. And taking the wicket of Hasan Mahmud who is a tail ender.
What's worse, none of our other pacers were effective at all during this series. Unlike Bangladesh pacers who were casually hitting 140 clicks, and in the case of rana 145 to 152 clicks, our bowlers were struggling to cross even 130kph at times. Commentator Aamer Sohail even noted and commented about the severe lack of fitness from pacers causing the decline in speeds.
And while Khurram Shehzad and mir Hamza were effective in the first innings of the 2nd test with accurate line and length and the pitch helped them seam, they were able to reduce Bangladesh down to 26-6, but as soon as the pitch freshened up, our bowlers lack of pace and variation did not trouble the batters at all.
The spin department wasn't any better. The spinner Abrar Ahmed who Pakistan hyped up as the next best thing after the days of Saeed Ajmal and Yasir Shah, was given the minnow treatment, only taking 1 wicket across both innings in a losing cause.
Our batters however were even worse. I've already gone into detail about Shan Masood failing badly however what's shocking is that every single batter failed for Pakistan with the exception of Rizwan and Saud Shakeel who managed to score a 100 in the first Test and in Rizwan's case score a hard gritty half century alongside the tail in the 2nd innings.
Saim Ayub who has been frequently hyped up was finally up to get his 1st and 2nd international half century after 26 international games for his team, but both 50's were in the realm of soft scoring and did not overall help Pakistan in the long run.
Pakistani fans needed Saim to score in his 2nd innings to make an impact and seal Bangladesh's fate but instead he vanished and fell under pressure.
Babar Azam Pakistan's star batsmen alongside Abdullah Shafique felt like passengers in the side, performing extremely poorly with an average of 16 (Babar) and 10.5 (Abdullah) respectively.
Case in point, be it our experienced batters/experienced bowlers or inexperienced batters/inexperienced bowlers, Pakistan collectively failed as a unit.
So, with all that being said, the questions we need to ask are
Q1: What now for Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Babar Azam?
Shan as captain, Shaheen as our star pacer and Babar as Pakistan's star batter have been failing for years now, it's safe to say that we can no longer call their form a purple patch and their lack of fitness and poor attitude is also a concern.
But with the severe lack of talent and suitable replacements in the ranks, can we really afford to axe our captain, our star pacer and axe our former star batter? And if we do drop them, who do we choose as a viable long-term replacement?
Q2: Why has the talent dried up? Why are the upcoming crop of players showcasing such poor form?
Be it Saud Shakeel, Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Ali or Abrar Ahmed, everyone who has been introduced has been equally poor or worse than Babar, Shan and Shaheen.
But why? Why is the talent pool drying up? Is it due to lack of quality pitches? PSL? What is the reason that a country that has produced the likes of Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and many many more has now been reduced to choosing teams based on mediocre talent?
Q: What is the role of Mohsin Naqvi, Gary Kristen and Jason Gillespie?
Our coaches at the moment have produced poor results. So, what are they even doing? What's the reason that they have not been able to at the very least show some signs of improvement? Infact Pakistan seems to be regressing further and further.
And what was the surgery that Naqvi promised us? So far, I and by extension Pakistani fans don't see any notable difference?
Final Conclusions
So many questions have been asked to which we do not have an answer to. All I can say is that after this whitewash, things are only going to get worse from here on out with the likes of England approaching our home turf very very soon.
If major surgery is not achieved, then it's safe to say that Pakistan cricket is headed into very turbulent times ahead.
