‘Pakistan cricket is a gift that keeps giving’: Ex-IND batter mocks Shan Masood and Co. after crushing BAN loss
2 months ago | 25 Views
The defeat against Bangladesh on Sunday added misery to the Pakistan team, which has already faced a lot of scrutiny in the past year. Pakistan suffered early exits in the ODI World Cup 2023 and T20 World Cup 2024, while their recent Test record is only pilling up the list of problems for them.
It was Bangladesh's first win in 14 Test matches against Pakistan, who have won 12 of the previous 13 Tests, six by an innings, with one draw, but Najmul Shanto's men turned the tide on Sunday with a 10-wicket triumph.
Pakistan made a poor judgement in team selection as they went ahead with an all-pace attack with part-time spinners, which backfired. Meanwhile, Bangla spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan spun their web in the second innings and shared seven wickets amongst themselves to set up foundation of the maiden win over Pakistan in Test cricket.
Mehidy grabbed 4-21 and Shakib 3-44 to trigger a Pakistan collapse on the fifth day, with the home side dismissed for 146 runs in 55.5 overs.
Bangladesh had to chase just a 30-run target, which openers Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam reached in 6.3 overs.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra took a dig at the Pakistan team for their poor decision to declare innings before 500 with four wickets to spare, which was one reason behind their loss.
"Not many teams go to lose a Test match after declaring their first innings with 400+ runs and 4 wickets to spare. At Home. Pakistan cricket is a gift that keeps giving," Chopra wrote on X.
Pakistan dropped to eighth in the nine-team World Test Championship points table after their defeat, with Bangladesh climbing to sixth.
A very disappointing loss
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood described the loss as "disappointing".
"Yes, it is a very disappointing loss," said Masood who has lost four successive Tests as skipper. "We did not take Bangladesh lightly but the pitch did not play as we expected."
The second and final Test will also be played at Rawalpindi from Friday, with the series part of the World Test Championship (WTC).
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