The Pakistan team is going through crazy things but still giving up is not an option for a nation who saw a terrorist attack in 2009 and a spot-fixing saga in 2010. Absolutely the side believes that the bad days will soon be over and the side will start winning and playing competitive cricket, again. And one of the men, who is leading from upfront in this agenda, is the current Test skipper – Shan Masood.
Talking to the press conference on 30th September, Masood was hopeful to bring the best out of this team and was hopeful for upcoming a three-match Test series against a team like England.
The skipper said the side could not capitalise against Bangladesh but will look forward to being more positive against the Three Lions.
“As a squad and our coach has emphasised, even when we were losing matches, we weren’t losing on the first or second day. If you look at our first two innings against Bangladesh, we declared after scoring 450 runs as a batting unit. Then, in the second Test match, the pitch had Bangladesh at 26 for 6, and we couldn’t capitalise on that. So mental and physical fitness matter for each Test match. If you look, our batting usually collapsed on the fifth day, so these are things we need to improve as a team.”
Masood also said that every captain has a different approach on leading his troops, as a captain he believes in backing and supporting the players.
“To prepare any team, you need to support and back the players. You need to show consistency in selection. In case of defeat, it’s easy to change the team, make many changes, or change the method of playing”
“Every captain has their own style of maintaining a good environment in the dressing room, and for me, it’s my primary concern”
Last but not the least, the lanky batsman also talked about managing workload of the players, particularly the pacers.
“In Test cricket, fast bowling is very tough, so the workload of fast bowlers is always managed. Unfortunately, Khurram Shahzad has had injuries twice that we couldn’t control, but we’ve personally talked to the fast bowlers. What we’ve conveyed is that taking 20 wickets is a very important part of your role, and they need to be super fit as it’s a team requirement. So we’ve set some fitness standards. Fast bowlers should be the fittest in our team. It’s a priority case, and we are in constant communication with the fast bowlers while setting these standards.”
The Test squad will assemble in Multan on 1st of October. Pakistan is gearing up for a three-match Test series against England starting from 7th. The first two Tests will be played in Multan and the last one is scheduled to take place in Rawalpindi.
Squad:
Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi.
