The Pakistan national cricket team’s recent dismal performances at home against Bangladesh have not only hindered their hopes of winning the World Test Championship (WTC), but have also seen them drop in the ICC Test rankings. After sustaining their fifth consecutive loss in a row, Men In Green dropped to 8th position on the table.
Before the series with Bangladesh, Pakistan was 6th on the log. Nevertheless, two slots down because of recent matches during which huge defeats elongated Shan Masud’s nightmare beginning as a captain.
Nevertheless, West Indies and Sri Lanka despite their tour struggles across England had nothing less than contrasting fortunes when it comes to Pakistan which just achieved new record low. With only 76 rating points, this is by far the worst performance recorded by Men in Green since the inception of a ranking system way back in 1965.
In contrast, though, Bangladesh have been energized by victories over New Zealand at home and a historic win over Pakistan during the previous WTC campaign. They hold ninth place overall although; some world statistics indicate that they have 66 rating points. Next month, under the leadership of Najmul Hossain Shanto they are expected to tour India.
“We haven’t taken our lessons to heart”- Pakistan captain Shan Masood
Shan Mashood was named as the captain of the red-ball side after Babar Azam chose to step down from the leadership duty following the conclusion of the 2023 ODI World Cup. The men in green struggled against Australia and ended with an expected tally of 0-3.
However, it was hoped that Jason Gillespie’s appointment as head coach would mark a new beginning for Pakistan cricket in this format of the game, starting ideally with a home series against Bangladesh. But they were defeated by 10 wickets and seven wickets respectively and thus missed some crucial WTC points.
“We haven’t learnt our lessons. I am extremely disappointed. The story has been the same since the Australia series. And We should be better at finishing games.”
”We could’ve bowled well in both games. We let them come back from 26-6 and it happened during my tenure in the last four matches,” Masood said during the post-match presentation after the second Test.
Pakistan is scheduled to host England for a three-match series in October, aiming for their first home Test series win since 2021.
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