Shan Masood on Mirpur defeat: Our batters should have reassessed after tea

The Pakistan captain said the whole team would have to take responsibility for a third successive Test defeat to Bangladesh

Danyal Rasool

Published: May 12, 2026, 6:03 PM (4 hrs ago)

Pakistan captain Shan Masood has said "the whole team" would have to take responsibility after their crushing defeat in the first Test in Mirpur. Speaking after Bangladesh wrapped up a 104-run win on the final day, Masood bemoaned "good positions" that Pakistan had let go throughout the Test and acknowledged the team would be "judged by results".

"The boys and the whole team will have to take responsibility," he said. "But we should look at all that we can do to improve the Pakistan team. As a team, we will have to self-reflect. I think we had moments [in all four innings]. But Test cricket doesn't forgive you. Until you play the perfect game, until you take the game's situation into account, or make fewer mistakes, then in Test cricket, you're always on the other side of the result."

On the final day, Bangladesh appeared the keener of the two sides to force a result, declaring late in the morning session to set Pakistan a target of 268 in a maximum of 75 overs. While light was unlikely to allow all those overs to be bowled, Bangladesh didn't need so many, dismissing Pakistan in 52.5 overs.

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Masood said Pakistan had not made a decision at the start of the fourth innings on whether to go for a win or try and draw the game. "The mind was pretty clear, we just said that we would go out there and bat normally," he said. "The wicket seemed decent, there was some element of spin from the rough. We said to the batsmen that as a collective batting unit, we'll keep batting, we'll see what position we're in at tea and then we'll take it from there."

At tea, the game was finely poised at 116 for 3, with Salman Agha and debutant Abdullah Fazal building a 50-partnership for the fourth wicket. While Pakistan hadn't got to the halfway mark of the target, Bangladesh were left with the significant task of picking up seven wickets in a session.

However, the opening salvos of the post-tea session turned the game on its head. Fazal and Agha fell in quick succession, and Mohammad Rizwan survived a first-ball lbw shout on review as the game swung decisively the hosts' way. Masood felt that was the moment to understand a draw was realistically the best offer on the table.

"You assess conditions and situations at certain points," Masood said. "When the target was set, our mindset was to bat and to see how the game goes. In Test cricket, you'll always be respectful of the good balls and then you'll try to put any scoring opportunities away for runs. I think we were in a good position at tea. And then after tea we lost some wickets and in terms of game-sense I thought that's where a few of the batsmen could have really realised that we're a bit far away from the target and it's better to keep ourselves in the game. I thought we lost wickets at the wrong time and we could have made better cricketing decisions."

One of the more striking aspects of the game was the style of cricket Bangladesh played, and the departure it represented from their more traditional, spin-heavy grinding of the opposition. A green-top wicket was prepared, encouraging enough for Pakistan to win the toss and field, while Bangladesh played three seam bowlers, with express quick Nahid Rana key to blowing Pakistan away on the final day. In the wider arc of history, that was, in essence, Bangladesh defeating Pakistan at their own game.

"I thought it was a very good Test wicket," Masood said. "It had something for everyone; I thought the spinners actually created pressure for the fast bowlers to take wickets. Like in the first innings, when we lost seven wickets to spinners, I thought it was the pace attack that actually bowled well, and then the spinners, while they were containing, were able to pick up a few more wickets than what I thought would be usual. So it was a good Test wicket."

Pakistan have now lost 11 out of 15 Tests under Masood's leadership. It is also their third consecutive Test defeat to Bangladesh, making them the only nation besides Zimbabwe to lose three in a row to this particular opposition. No team has ever lost four, and as the second Test in Sylhet draws nearer, it is becoming a realistic prospect.

"Emotions are high when you lose," Masood said. "You will give me statistics [about the number of defeats] and I will accept it. I will never blame anyone, I myself will accept responsibility, but I always try to look at what things we can improve to become a good team.

"If you ask me about my intentions, my intentions are the same. Whether it's team selection, whether it's playing, whether that's my batting position, whether it is anything related to the team - it's about how we can be better. Test cricket asks for your best. We have the second Test match now; we will analyse it properly, reflect, try not to repeat the mistakes we have made."

Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000

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