Srinagar: Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has lashed out at Pakistan captain Shan Masood for the self destructive captaincy vs Bangladesh in second Test.
After losing the first Test – their first-ever defeat to Bangladesh in a Test – Rawalpindi by 10 wickets, Pakistan suffered another loss by six wickets in the second and final Test at the same venue to lose the series.
In the first innings, Pakistan had a grip on the game when they reduced Bangladesh to 26/6. But Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz scripted a remarkable comeback to turn the tides in the visitors’ favour. Litton smashed 138 to become the first Bangladeshi batter to hit two Test centuries against Pakistan while Mehidy contributed a patient 78. Their 165-run stand for the seventh wicket took Bangladesh’s total to 262, which proved to be decisive.
Basit lashed out at Masood and claimed that his captaincy played a part in Litton’s and Mehidy’s partnership flourishing against Pakistan’s bowling unit.
“It was a third-class performance. Pakistan lost the Test match due to captaincy. Captaincy played a key role in the way Litton Das and Mehidy performed after 26/6. There is no need for surgery. The Pakistan team has done surgery on themselves. Mohsin Naqvi should think about this. In the past six months, Pakistan has lost two big events,” Basit, who, has represented Pakistan in 19 Tests and 50 ODIs, said on his YouTube channel.
Ever since Shan Masood took over as Pakistan’s Test captain from Babar Azam towards the end of last year, they haven’t won a single match. In fact, Pakistan have lost all five Test matches under Masood’s captaincy. The left-hander’s first assignment was in Australia where Pakistan lost all three Tests without much of a contest.