Shan Masood to be sacked from Pakistan’s captaincy following Multan Test defeat

Pakistan have slipped to the bottom of the World Test Championship points table, thanks to another humiliating defeat at the hands of England in the Multan Test. The visitors defeated them by an innings and 47 runs and with that loss, Pakistan became the first team in Test cricket history to lose a Test match despite scoring 500-plus runs in the first innings. It has been a forgettable year for the Pakistan Cricket Team. They suffered a group stage exit in the T20 World Cup, losing to a small team like USA and also suffering a defeat from a winning position against India. 

The most shocking defeats came in the recent two-match Test series against Bangladesh. Shan Masood and Co. were blanked 2-0 in the Test series at their own home. 

The recent defeat in the first Test over England has only increased tensions in Pakistan’s camp. To make matters worse, reports have emerged that Shan Masood will be relieved from the captaincy duties after the Test series against England. 

Shan Masood’s tenure as Pakistan’s Test captain doesn’t look too inspiring. He took over as Pakistan’s Test captain in December and hasn’t managed to win a single Test, since. Under his leadership, Pakistan have played six Tests and they have lost all six of them.

The report further stated that PCB have shortlisted three names to overtake the captaincy from Masood, namely Agha Salman, M Rizwan, and Saud Shakeel. 

An account of Pakistan’s first Test against England 

On a flat wicket in Multan, Pakistan made great use of the batting conditions and managed to pile up a huge score of 556 runs in the first innings. Opener Shafique, skipper Masood, and Agha Salman led the way with respective centuries. 

In reply, England lost skipper Ollie Pope in the second over of the innings but what followed was pure destruction. Joe Root surpassed Alastair Cook to become England’s leading run-scorer in Test cricket. 

The former England skipper played a stellar knock of 262 runs in 375 balls. Harry Brook, on the other hand, threatened to break Brain Lara’s all-time Test record as the English batter scored 317 off 322 balls. 

England declared their innings and 823 for 7 on day 4 in a bid to win the Test. They came out firing with the ball and it led to Pakistan’s batting collapse. At stumps on day 4, Pakistan found themselves reeling at 152 for 6. Salman Ali Agha (63) and Aamer Jamal (55*) provided some resistance on day 5 but couldn’t evade the inevitable. 

Pakistan were, eventually, bundled out for 220 runs.