Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali came down heavily at captain Shan Masood after Pakistan were whitewashed by Bangladesh in their own backyard. After losing the first Test – their first-ever defeat to Bangladesh in a Test – Rawalpindi by 10 wickets, Pakistan suffered another denting loss by six wickets in the second and final Test at the same venue to lose the series.
In the first innings, Pakistan had a grip on the game when they reduced Bangladesh to 26/6. But Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz scripted a remarkable comeback to turn the tides in the visitors’ favour. Litton smashed 138 to become the first Bangladeshi batter to hit two Test centuries against Pakistan while Mehidy contributed a patient 78. Their 165-run stand for the seventh wicket took Bangladesh’s total to 262, which proved to be decisive.
Basit lambasted Masood and claimed that his captaincy played a part in Litton’s and Mehidy’s partnership flourishing against Pakistan’s bowling unit. Calling Pakistan’s performance in the second Test “third class”, Basit even claimed that Masood’s captaincy was the reason Pakistan lost the second Test against Bangladesh.
“It was a third-class performance. Pakistan lost the Test match due to captaincy. Captaincy played a key role in the way Litton Das and Mehidy performed after 26/6. There is no need for surgery. The Pakistan team has done surgery on themselves. Mohsin Naqvi should think about this. In the past six months, Pakistan has lost two big events,” Basit, who, has represented Pakistan in 19 Tests and 50 ODis, said on his YouTube channel.
Shan Masood’s poor record as captain
Ever since Shan Masood took over as Pakistan’s Test captain from Babar Azam towards the end of last year, they haven’t won a single match. In fact, Pakistan have lost all five Test matches under Masood’s captaincy. The left-hander’s first assignment was in Australia where Pakistan lost all three Tests without much of a contest.
They were beaten by 360 runs in Perth. The second Test in Melbourne resulted in a 79-run loss, while Australia won the final match in Sydney by 8 wickets.
The performance against Bangladesh, however, hurt Pakistan more. Masood’s form with the bat is also a concern. The left-hander has scored only three half-centuries in his 10 outings at an average of 28 in the five Tests that he has been captained.
