Pakistan’s red-ball skipper Shan Masood opened up on the decision to play four pacers and no frontline spinner in the first Test against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh on Sunday clinched a maiden Test victory against Pakistan in Rawalpindi after chasing the 30-run target in their second innings.
Earlier, Bangladesh spinners Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan joined together to bowl out Pakistan for 146.
Mohammad Rizwan played a fighting 51-run knock to drag the team’s total from 108-6 to 142 before Mehidy Hasan Miraz sent him back.
Mehidy returned with the figures of 4-21, Shakib Al Hasan picked three wickets, while Shoriful Islam, Nahid Rana and Hasan Mahmud bagged one each.
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Addressing a post-match presentation, Pakistan skipper Shan Masood admitted that the home side got it wrong by not picking a frontline spinner in the playing XI.
“Looking at the pitch, we expected the pitch to do a bit more. Secondly, I thought with three fast bowlers, you were going to be pushing them to the limit and that would mean that the spinner would also have to operate at around 25-30 overs a day,” he said.
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According to Shan Masood, the home side had decided against playing a frontline spinner, who would come into play on Day 5, as they thought that the game might not last five days due to the weather conditions.
“And again, I think at the end of the day, we got it wrong and, and we just have to work our way around it now,” he said.
When asked if Pakistan would play an extra spinner in the next Test, Masood said there was ‘always room’ for one.
“Look, there’s always room for a spinner. But that’s the thing, you have to look at your whole XI. We lost Jamal who offered us, something, both with the bat and ball. So that meant that we had to play four all-and-out seamers. That’s where we were missing the all-rounder as well,” the Pakistan skipper added.
