Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood said on Wednesday that the national side needs deeper, structural changes to improve its recent fortunes in the longest format. His comments came after Bangladesh wrapped up a two-match series with a 78-run victory in the second Test at Sylhet, completing a clean sweep.
The series defeat extended Pakistan’s difficult run against Bangladesh, marking their fourth consecutive Test loss to the Tigers. It also pushed their poor record further on the road, with Pakistan now having lost seven straight away Tests.
Masood stressed that the solution must go beyond surface-level adjustments. “The changes needed are structural. For those changes you address root causes and put aside emotions,” he said. “We are hurt and we always offer our sincerest apologies. We won’t look at it emotionally though—just how we can improve it. If we talk about the series, yes, it’s never a good place to lose games,” he added.
He acknowledged that Pakistan had openings in both matches but failed to turn them into results. “In this series, I thought in both matches we’ve had significant chances to do well. We have to look at ourselves, reflect on ourselves—whether that’s batting, bowling, or fielding—and see where we lost the game. That’s where I feel we need to go forward as a side,” Masood said.
Masood also argued against sweeping overhauls, saying improvement must start with honest evaluation. “There are many things that we need to build on. You won’t build from wholesale changes; you build from identifying what we do well and what we do badly. How can we reduce those mistakes because, as I’ve said before, in Tests mistakes over five days are very costly,” he added.
Masood deflects talk about his future as captain
Masood played down speculation about his captaincy and said he was not looking too far ahead, leaving the ultimate call to the board despite increased public calls for his removal. “My intentions are clean. I took on this job to improve our Test cricket. There are things that need to be discussed with the board and the decision is always the board’s,” he said.
He framed his approach as accepting challenges in any role. “My intentions have always been on how to improve this side because you should always take on challenges and accept opportunities. It will always be my effort in any capacity—it doesn’t have to be that I do it sitting in the captaincy chair, or the player chair, wherever,” Masood said.
He added that the focus should remain on Pakistan’s development in Tests rather than talk of change for its own sake. “You don’t know where life will take you, but I’ve always worn this shirt with pride and put everything aside for this. I think at this moment, instead of just talking about change, we need to think about how to improve Pakistan’s Test cricket,” he said.
Concluding his remarks, Masood said losses must trigger review without emotional distortion. “When you lose you have to revisit it—you cannot keep saying after losing that everything is ok. But you have to look at the situation without emotion and see what the Pakistan Test team needs to do to progress,” he said.
Salman Agha receives demerit point for Code of Conduct breach
Pakistan batter Salman Agha was officially reprimanded for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the second Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet on Tuesday. The batter was found guilty of violating Article 2.2, which covers “abuse of cricket equipment or clothing, ground equipment or fixtures and fittings during an International Match.”
As a result, one demerit point was added to Agha’s disciplinary record. The incident also represented his second offence within a 24-month span, taking his total to two demerit points.
His previous offence was another breach of Article 2.2 during an ODI against Bangladesh in Dhaka on March 13 earlier this year. In that earlier case as well, the violation related to conduct involving cricket equipment or related match items.
In the Sylhet Test, the incident occurred in the 82nd over of Pakistan’s second innings. After being dismissed, Agha struck an advertising board with his bat while walking back to the pavilion. Agha admitted the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by Jeff Crowe of the Emirates ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, which meant there was no need for a formal hearing.
The matter was taken up by the match officials, including on-field umpires Richard Kettleborough and Allahuddien Palekar, with Kumar Dharmasena acting as the third umpire and Masudur Rahman Mukul as the fourth umpire.
Under ICC rules, Level 1 breaches carry a minimum penalty of an official reprimand, a maximum fine of 50 per cent of a player’s match fee, and one or two demerit points.
