‘Are Pakistan mentally weak?’: Captain Shan Masood says … | Cricket News – Times of India

Pakistan captain Shan Masood expressed his disappointment after the team’s loss in the first Test against England. Despite scoring 556 in their first innings, Pakistan lost by an innings. This marks the first time in Test cricket history that a team has lost after posting over 500 runs in their first innings.
Shan Masood commented on the performance, saying, “It is disappointing to lose again.England found a way to win the match; they created their window of opportunity. Harsh reality is that test cricket quality sides find a way to win matches.”
In the first innings, Shan contributed significantly with a score of 151.
However, England surpassed Pakistan’s total, declaring at 823 for 7, thanks to 317 from Harry Brook and 262 from Joe Root.
Shan mentioned the team’s expectations and strategy: “I wouldn’t say my team is mentally weak but we expected this pitch to break by the third day onwards that is why we prolonged our innings. But at the end of the day, you have to find ways to take 20 wickets and we are not doing that in recent times.”
He acknowledged that both teams played on the same pitch but emphasized the importance of taking wickets. He also noted that Pakistan had not played a Test in Multan since 2022 and had limited interaction with the curator or groundsmen.
Shan admitted that the team was repeating mistakes and not learning from them. He stressed the need to adapt to changing pitch conditions daily.
Reflecting on the match, he stated, “We can’t blame anyone but ourselves. Where we made lapses they didn’t and capitalised on their opportunities. The pitch character did change on the fourth day when we came to bat as some cracks had opened up and there was a little something for the bowlers with the new ball.”
When asked about Babar Azam’s poor form, Shan said they would review the situation before making any decisions. “We will sit down and reflect on this test and then make decisions on the squad for the next test,” he added.