Veteran batter Ahmed Shehzad said that it would not be easy for Pakistan to recover from their loss to Bangladesh in the opening Test in Rawalpindi. On Sunday, August 25, Pakistan slumped to a 10-wicket loss to go 1-0 down in the two-match series. It was also for the first time that Pakistan lost by 10 wickets in a Test match at home.
After collapsing for 146 in their second innings, Pakistan could only set Bangladesh a target of 30 to chase down. Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam made sure that the Tigers went past the finish line in 6.3 overs. Shehzad did not mince words in saying that Pakistan cricket has hit a new low as he didn’t expect Bangladesh to beat them.
“I haven’t seen Pakistan go this low in my life. Batting, bowling and fielding is a discussion for another day. But this is a new low in Pakistan cricket. It will be very tough for them to recover from this defeat. They haven’t recovered from the defeat against Afghanistan until today,” Shehzad told.
“I told earlier that if you take short term decisions, it will hamper your cricket. Pakistan cricket is already towards darkness, but we did not expect to lose against Bangladesh,” he said.
Shehzad, who has played 13 Tests, lashed out at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not focussing enough on domestic cricket in the country.
“Players are not at fault. PCB is at fault because players never asked to be picked forcefully. It’s you who are making them play constantly. It’s you who are not letting domestic cricketers come along. You admit that there are not enough players in domestic cricket. If this is the case, what have you made?” Shehzad added.
Shan Masood’s Pakistan will be looking to bounce back in the second Test, which is scheduled to start on August 30 in Rawalpindi.
