Pakistan cricket is going through a disappointing low. The side suffered a 2-0 whitewash against Bangladesh in a recently concluded Test series. Bangladesh inflicted a six-wicket defeat on the home team in the second Test in Rawalpindi on Tuesday to complete the clean sweep. It also saw Bangladesh, who had won the first match by 10 wickets, register their first ever Test series victory over Pakistan. While the home team was humiliated by Bangladesh, Pakistan's Test captain Shan Masood also achieved an unwanted feat.
Masood is the first captain of the country to lose his five Test matches. He was appointed Pakistan Test captain in November last year after Babar Azam stepped down.
Masood broke the record of Javed Burki, who lost his first three Test matches as Pakistan captain.
“We will have to work on bringing consistency in the selection. You will have to deal with the failures of players. You will have to look for a place where you can get that player who can be automatically selected based on the current form. Since we are not playing red-ball cricket at the moment, we don't have many options to choose from,” Masood said after Pakistan's defeat in the series.
“I am not worried about my job security. I have taken this job to bring in the changes that we believe will help this team. If I believe that this team can go in a certain direction, even if my personal failures take Pakistan in that direction, I will be happy. Whatever time I get, I will be grateful and do my best,” he added.
Pakistan on Wednesday dropped to their worst Test ranking in almost 60 years, the International Cricket Council said, following their shock 2-0 series defeat to bottom-ranked Bangladesh.
“Pakistan have dropped two places, from sixth to eighth, in the Test rankings after suffering a shock series defeat at home to Bangladesh,” the International Cricket Council (ICC) said.
The ICC said it was “their lowest ranking since 1965” in the 12-team table, which is topped by Australia, followed by India and England. Bangladesh is ninth in the latest rankings
There are now no Pakistani bowlers in the top 10 after quick Shaheen Shah Afridi dropped from ninth to 11th ahead of the Bangladesh series.
Wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan is the only Pakistani still in the top 10 batting rankings, while Babar Azam drops three places to 12th.
Azam scored only 64 runs in the two Tests against Bangladesh.
(With AFP inputs)
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