The first Test, which the hosts lost by ten wickets to Bangladesh, featured four fast bowlers and no specialist spinner. Pakistani captain Shan Masood justified this selection on Sunday.
After Pakistan lost the first Test match against Bangladesh by ten wickets, captain Shan Masood defended the team’s choice to use four speed bowlers rather than a specialist spinner. Against Bangladesh, it was Pakistan’s first-ever Test defeat. After Shakib ul Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz shared seven wickets on the last day to bowl out Pakistan for just 146 runs, Masood, who struggled at the bat in both innings, refused to acknowledge that going in without a specialist spinner was a mistake.”We thought the pitch would provide the seamen with more support.” At the press conference following the game, he stated, “Looking at the pitch, we expected it to do more.”
“We wanted to avoid having the spinner bowl 25–30 overs a day and pushing them to their limit if we played three fast bowlers.”
“We anticipated that it might not even last the entire five days due to the weather. We made a mistake in the end,” he remarked.
Shan said that in an effort to get a result, the first innings was declared at 448 for six.
“We believed we had enough runs on the board to declare because we wanted to win the game. In their first innings, however, the Bangladeshi batsmen demonstrated a great deal of discipline and intent. He continued, “Mushfiq and Miraz batted exceptionally well.
“With 448 runs, we thought we might have a chance against them in the fourth inning.” “We could have done better to either take a lead or keep them at par, but we could have also done better with the ball and in the field,” he remarked.
Opening pair Shadman Islam and Zakir Hasan took Bangladesh to the mark in 6.3 overs without losing a wicket, needing just thirty runs to reach their objective.
Bangladesh’s spinners caused Pakistan, who had begun the day at 65 for 2, to collapse, losing their final eight wickets for a just 81 runs.
The captain of Pakistan acknowledged that the team’s home season, which consisted of seven home Tests and two away matches in South Africa, had not started as planned.
“Now, all we need to do is correct everything and attempt to tie the series in the world test championship,” he stated.
Following Pakistan’s 0–3 drubbing at the hands of Australia in the previous winter, Shan suffered his fourth consecutive loss in his role as captain on Sunday.