Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi has criticised the Pakistan National Cricket Team for their humiliating defeat against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team in the first Test of the two-match series at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.
The Shan Masood-led side suffered a 10-wicket drubbing against the Bangla Tigers and ended up losing 0-1 in the series. This was Pakistan’s first defeat against Bangladesh in the history of Test cricket as they had won 12 head-to-head encounters and drawn one match before the clash in Rawalpindi.
It was also Pakistan’s first 10-wicket loss in home Tests as their previous largest margin of defeat in terms of wickets remaining was against Sri Lanka in Dubai in 2014. Notably, at one point, Pakistan played their home matches in the United Arab Emirates.
The defeat came as a big surprise for Pakistan as they had performed decently in the first four days and the match was heading towards a draw. However, on the final day, everything changed suddenly as a batting collapse restricted Pakistan to 146 runs. Bangladesh had a modest target of 30 runs, which they exhaustively chased down.
One of the biggest mistakes Pakistan made in the match was declaring the innings at 448 when they had four wickets in hand to add more runs. It was also only the fourth time Pakistan lost a Test match in which they declared an innings.
Unfortunately, the Pakistan cricket team could not perform as well as it should have – Mohsin Naqvi
After the match, PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi congratulated Bangla Tigers for the historic win. However, he was disappointed with his team’s performance and was hopeful that the Shan Masood-led side would stage a good comeback.
“Bangladesh cricket team played wonderfully and held their own throughout the match. It is a historic victory as they have won against Pakistan for the first time. Sending my heartiest congratulations to them! Unfortunately, Pakistan cricket team could not play as well as they should have. InshaAllah, the men in green will be back in the next match,” Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi wrote on X.
Bangladesh cricket team has played wonderfully and has held their own throughout the match. It is a historic victory as they have won against Pakistan for the first time. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to them! Unfortunately, Pakistan cricket team could not perform as well as they had hoped…
— Mohsin Naqvi (@MohsinnaqviC42) August 25, 2024
Also, Pakistan legend Mohammad Hafeez took a jibe at Mohsin Naqvi after the match. He posted a cryptic “surgery” message, reminding fans of Naqvi’s comments about performing major surgery on the Pakistan team after the T20 World Cup debacle.
“Surgery will continue till death…” wrote the former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team on his official X account.
Surgery continues until death…
— Mohammad Hafeez (@MHafeez22) August 25, 2024
Meanwhile, in the post-match press conference, Pakistan captain Shan Masood revealed that the conditions in Rawalpindi took them by surprise. He also spoke about mystery spinner Abrar Ahmed’s absence from the starting XI and hinted at his return for the second and final match.
“The weather and pitch conditions for the Rawalpindi test were totally contrary to our expectations,” he told reporters.
“Abrar Ahmed did not play any red-ball cricket before the tour of Australia, so he was not selected in the Test series against Australia. He recently played for Pakistan Shaheens. We hope Abrar gets some good red-ball practice before the second Test match,” he added.
