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Pakistan Test Captain Shan Masood speaking during a Press Conference ahead of the 1st Test match against England:
Absence of Ben Stokes:
“We all know the quality of Ben Stokes, he is counted among the top all-rounders in the world. But England has played without him before, and not just now, but they have played a lot without him before as well. Their strength does not rely on one player. If you look at their playing XI, it is quite balanced. They have all-rounders who can bat, two spinners are playing, and Joe Root provides an extra option in spin, three fast bowlers, and deep batting. So, yes, they will miss an individual, but still, the XI is a competitive side, and the squad of 16 is quite competitive.”
“These conditions are completely different. The series is happening in Pakistan. If we need to learn any lessons or draw inspiration, it should be from our last series with England. We played on this ground as well and came very close to winning the Test match. We should always keep in mind that we were close in that series, there were opportunities to win, and that is the mistake we have repeated as a Test squad during my tenure as well. We have slipped in match-winning positions. For us as a side, we need to focus on our strengths and how we can tackle England’s playing XI and play our best cricket for five days.”
On Countering England’s aggressive style of play:
“We know their style of cricket, but at the end of the day, what can we do to tackle it? What are our strengths? We believe we have kept clarity in our playing XI, considering the conditions and the opposition. We announced the side today because we are clear in our minds that this is the best XI, giving us the best balance. The inclusion of Aamer Jamal gives us an edge in the seam department, plus he has shown his batting capabilities in Australia. We have tried to maintain some consistency in our playing XI, giving opportunities because these are the individuals who have performed before and won matches for Pakistan. It is just a matter of clicking as a side, getting a good start here can give us momentum as a Test side.”
Strategy:
“The strategy of a Test match cannot be decided in one day. The game changes a lot over five days. So, whenever you announce a playing XI or even a squad, you look at the entire series, the whole 15 days, and think that whenever changes come in situations, which happen every day in Test cricket, how we will tackle those situations. As far as our squad is concerned, you have eight batters. We faced a bit of a loss in the Bangladesh series because we did not get runs after the seventh wicket, which Aamer Jamal provided in Australia. That was one thing. He also took 18 wickets in three matches, and we missed that as well because he could not play due to injury.”
“Secondly, you have to cover the spin department, which we believe we have with Abrar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha, giving us those two options. So, whenever you look at our fast bowling, we have played three seamers: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Aamer Jamal. We want to have coverage in every department to tackle any situation over five days. As far as England is concerned, there is inexperience, but we have inexperience in our team as well. But their other two seamers, Gus Atkinson, have just started international cricket, and his start has been very good. Brydon Carse has played international cricket for England, played white-ball cricket, and is a consistent red-ball bowler for Durham. So, you cannot underestimate anyone. The unknown factor needs to be watched carefully and examined more. You have to plan against it because you do not know the strengths and weaknesses of a new bowler. Our effort is to give full respect to any player from the opposition, assess their skill set, and plan how to tackle them considering the conditions and the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Consistency in Team Selection:
“The thinking is that consistency should be maintained in selection, giving them opportunities. And some good things have also happened in the Bangladesh series. In both innings we played in Bangladesh, after losing the toss and with the rainy weather, our batting was positive and put up a good score in both innings, which were our first innings totals. We made a mistake as a batting unit in the second innings; that's when collapses happened that put us in a situation where we lost the match. We brought ourselves down as a batting unit.”
“Bowlers need to be looked at a bit differently, considering their workloads and what cricket is coming up. If you see, after this series, there's Shaheen Shahn Afridi, Naseem Shan, and maybe Aamer Jamal, who might also have to play white-ball cricket in Australia after five or six days at the end of this series. So, with fast bowlers, we bring in a bit of rotation in the policy. With spinners, you can still be consistent, like Abrar played the last Test match and we felt he should play this Test match too. With fast bowlers, there are a lot of things like injuries and workload management where rotation is better. We felt that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shan got a bit of a break, but it was such a break that they stayed in touch with their skills since they played in the Champions Cup. I think Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled the maximum overs in the Champions Cup too, so he got back into a bit of a rhythm. Now we feel that we should bring Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah fresh from the Bangladesh series to start this series.”
Absence of Ben Stokes:
“We all know the quality of Ben Stokes, he is counted among the top all-rounders in the world. But England has played without him before, and not just now, but they have played a lot without him before as well. Their strength does not rely on one player. If you look at their playing XI, it is quite balanced. They have all-rounders who can bat, two spinners are playing, and Joe Root provides an extra option in spin, three fast bowlers, and deep batting. So, yes, they will miss an individual, but still, the XI is a competitive side, and the squad of 16 is quite competitive.”
“These conditions are completely different. The series is happening in Pakistan. If we need to learn any lessons or draw inspiration, it should be from our last series with England. We played on this ground as well and came very close to winning the Test match. We should always keep in mind that we were close in that series, there were opportunities to win, and that is the mistake we have repeated as a Test squad during my tenure as well. We have slipped in match-winning positions. For us as a side, we need to focus on our strengths and how we can tackle England’s playing XI and play our best cricket for five days.”
On Countering England’s aggressive style of play:
“We know their style of cricket, but at the end of the day, what can we do to tackle it? What are our strengths? We believe we have kept clarity in our playing XI, considering the conditions and the opposition. We announced the side today because we are clear in our minds that this is the best XI, giving us the best balance. The inclusion of Aamer Jamal gives us an edge in the seam department, plus he has shown his batting capabilities in Australia. We have tried to maintain some consistency in our playing XI, giving opportunities because these are the individuals who have performed before and won matches for Pakistan. It is just a matter of clicking as a side, getting a good start here can give us momentum as a Test side.”
Strategy:
“The strategy of a Test match cannot be decided in one day. The game changes a lot over five days. So, whenever you announce a playing XI or even a squad, you look at the entire series, the whole 15 days, and think that whenever changes come in situations, which happen every day in Test cricket, how we will tackle those situations. As far as our squad is concerned, you have eight batters. We faced a bit of a loss in the Bangladesh series because we did not get runs after the seventh wicket, which Aamer Jamal provided in Australia. That was one thing. He also took 18 wickets in three matches, and we missed that as well because he could not play due to injury.”
“Secondly, you have to cover the spin department, which we believe we have with Abrar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha, giving us those two options. So, whenever you look at our fast bowling, we have played three seamers: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Aamer Jamal. We want to have coverage in every department to tackle any situation over five days. As far as England is concerned, there is inexperience, but we have inexperience in our team as well. But their other two seamers, Gus Atkinson, have just started international cricket, and his start has been very good. Brydon Carse has played international cricket for England, played white-ball cricket, and is a consistent red-ball bowler for Durham. So, you cannot underestimate anyone. The unknown factor needs to be watched carefully and examined more. You have to plan against it because you do not know the strengths and weaknesses of a new bowler. Our effort is to give full respect to any player from the opposition, assess their skill set, and plan how to tackle them considering the conditions and the opposition’s strengths and weaknesses.”
Consistency in Team Selection:
“The thinking is that consistency should be maintained in selection, giving them opportunities. And some good things have also happened in the Bangladesh series. In both innings we played in Bangladesh, after losing the toss and with the rainy weather, our batting was positive and put up a good score in both innings, which were our first innings totals. We made a mistake as a batting unit in the second innings; that's when collapses happened that put us in a situation where we lost the match. We brought ourselves down as a batting unit.”
“Bowlers need to be looked at a bit differently, considering their workloads and what cricket is coming up. If you see, after this series, there's Shaheen Shahn Afridi, Naseem Shan, and maybe Aamer Jamal, who might also have to play white-ball cricket in Australia after five or six days at the end of this series. So, with fast bowlers, we bring in a bit of rotation in the policy. With spinners, you can still be consistent, like Abrar played the last Test match and we felt he should play this Test match too. With fast bowlers, there are a lot of things like injuries and workload management where rotation is better. We felt that Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shan got a bit of a break, but it was such a break that they stayed in touch with their skills since they played in the Champions Cup. I think Shaheen Shah Afridi bowled the maximum overs in the Champions Cup too, so he got back into a bit of a rhythm. Now we feel that we should bring Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah fresh from the Bangladesh series to start this series.”
