Pakistan have misplaced all 5 Checks beneath Masood’s captaincy, together with a shock house sequence loss towards Bangladesh.
Underneath-pressure Pakistan Take a look at cricket captain Shan Masood will proceed to steer the facet within the upcoming sequence towards England regardless of shedding his first 5 matches on the helm.
Masood, a 34-year-old top-order batter, saved his place as Pakistan named a 15-man squad on Tuesday for subsequent month’s first Take a look at within the southeastern metropolis of Multan.
Following Pakistan’s shock 2-0 house sequence loss towards Bangladesh in August, native media had speculated that Masood confronted an axe forward of a busy Take a look at calendar for the group.
Pakistan had by no means misplaced a Take a look at match to Bangladesh earlier than and the dual defeats in Rawalpindi additionally marked solely the second time that Pakistan misplaced all matches in a sequence at house, the primary occasion coming in 2022 towards England, their opponents in an upcoming sequence.
It took Masood’s document to 5 losses since changing Babar Azam as skipper in November. He misplaced his first sequence 3-0 in Australia.
The left-handed opener’s batting kind stays beneath par as he has failed to attain a Take a look at century since August 2020 and has a batting common of 28.6 in his 5 matches as captain.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) caught with Masood as their Australian head coach Jason Gillespie sought consistency.
Pakistan presently languish in eighth place within the Worldwide Cricket Council’s (ICC) males’s Take a look at group rankings with 76 ranking factors after 20 matches within the present cycle of the World Take a look at Championship. Australia lead the desk with 124 factors, with India shut behind and England are third.
The primary of three Pakistan-England Checks begins in Multan on October 7, the second will probably be performed in the identical metropolis from October 15 and the third in Rawalpindi from October 24.
The PCB mentioned the group announcement was for the primary Take a look at solely.
“The 15-man squad is for the primary Take a look at and primarily based on the advice of head coach Gillespie, the chosen gamers will attend a coaching camp in Multan from October 1,” the board mentioned in a press launch.
Left-arm spinner Noman Ali has changed quick bowler Khurram Shahzad, who’s recovering from a facet pressure.
Pacer Mohammad Ali, who performed each Bangladesh Checks, and batter Kamran Ghulam, an unused member of the squad, have been dropped.
All-rounder Aamer Jamal returns after lacking the Bangladesh sequence with a again downside.
“We’re very a lot wanting ahead to the sequence towards England right here in Pakistan and can’t anticipate it to start,” Gillespie was quoted as saying by the PCB.
Squad (for first Take a look at): Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel, Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi.
