"Not impossible to take 20 wickets on this pitch" Shan Masood blames bowlers for Multan test loss against England

Pakistan have lost all six tests under Shan Masood’s captaincy.

Shan Masood has drawn a clear distinction between his team’s batting and bowling efforts following Pakistan’s innings defeat against England in Multan. Defending the batters for their efforts, Masood expressed frustration with the bowlers for their inability to take 20 wickets.

Masood pointed out that even on a flat surface England found a way to take 20 wickets, and Pakistan needed to do the same.

After Pakistan’s embarrassing defeat in Multan, Shan Masood said “What England showed us is you can find a way, They took 20 wickets on this pitch, so you can’t say it’s impossible to do. We can’t find excuses. Test cricket is about two things—taking 20 wickets and putting up first-innings runs.”

Shan Masood expressed his disappointment at Pakistan’s bowling display, especially when the second new ball was in play.

“There was a moment when the match could have been pulled back in our favor, but we didn’t capitalize. The cracks were opening up, and there was enough there with the new ball, but we couldn’t execute,” he said.

Pakistan’s inability to capitalize from a strong position after day two, even after scoring 550 runs in the first innings, was a big concern for Masood. He emphasized that after getting runs on the board, the next step was to take a big first-innings lead, but Pakistan failed to do that against England, who piled up 823 runs, courtesy of a triple ton from Harry Brook and a double century from Joe Root.

Both sides played on the same pitch: Shan Masood

While plenty of talk has been centred around the flat nature of the pitch, Masood chose not to use the surface as an excuse for the bowlers’ lack of effectiveness.

“The pitch was the same for both teams, they found a way, and we didn’t execute as well,” Masood added. He also acknowledged that the team expected the pitch to break up earlier than it did, which is why they extended their first innings.

While Masood was objective in his analysis of Pakistan’s bowling performance, he offered less introspection on Pakistan’s batting in the second innings. Pakistan collapsed to 82 for 6 in their second innings on a pitch England piled up the fourth-highest score in test cricket.

1-0 down in the series, Pakistan will expect a better overall performance in the second test at Multan to keep their hopes of a series win alive.

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