Shan Masood rues poor decision-making after Mirpur defeat

Shan Masood said on Tuesday that the Pakistan national cricket team could have made better cricketing decisions against Bangladesh, adding that those mistakes cost them the opening Test of the ongoing two-match series.

Nahid Rana picked up 5/40, but it was his final spell that changed the game for Bangladesh. He claimed four wickets in a 4.5-over spell to bundle Pakistan out for 163 in their second innings, helping Bangladesh secure a 104-run victory in Mirpur.

Pakistan were comfortably placed at tea with seven wickets in hand before Rana, along with Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam, combined effectively to earn Bangladesh their first home Test win against the visitors.

"Look, I think we were in a good position at tea. Then, after tea, we lost a few wickets and, in terms of game awareness, I thought some of the batsmen could have realised that we were still some distance away from the target. It was important to keep ourselves in the game, but we lost wickets at the wrong time. We could have made better cricketing decisions," Masood said, refusing to blame anyone in particular.

"Obviously, you can point to the statistics, and I will accept that. But in Test cricket, there are many things we need to improve. I will never play the blame game. I will take responsibility myself, but my constant effort is to identify what we are doing well as a Test team, what we can improve, and what more we need to do to become a strong Test side," he said.

"If you ask about my intentions, they are purely focused on improving the Pakistan team. Whether it is team selection, batting positions, or any team-related matter, the main goal is to help the Pakistan team improve. As I said before, Test cricket demands your best. You never face weak opposition in Test cricket. It is always the best versus the best, and whenever you make mistakes, you are not given any margin for error," he added.

Masood also said that Rana is always a dangerous bowling option against lower-order batters because of his express pace.

"That was a very important phase of the game. Against the lower order, you always want express pace as a bowling unit. I thought Rana bowled very well against our lower order," said Masood.

"His quality is evident, and he executed his plans very well," he added.

"It is disappointing for us because we felt that if the two set batsmen had batted a little longer, we could have taken the game towards a draw," he concluded.