Shahid Afridi criticizes Shan Masood, PCB after loss to Bangladesh: 'Raises serious questions about awareness'

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi criticized current Test captain Shan Masood and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following the team's embarrassing 10-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the series opener. This defeat marked Pakistan's first loss to Bangladesh in Test history, despite having played each other 14 times previously. The loss puts Pakistan behind 1-0 in the two-Test series.

Afridi, raising “serious questions”, criticised PCB over the pitch preparation of the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, and also savaged Masood and the team management over picking four fast bowler and not a single specialist spinner for the Test match.

“A 10-wicket defeat raises serious questions about the decision to prepare this type of pitch, select four fast bowlers and leave out a specialist spinner. This to me clearly shows a lack of awareness about home conditions,” he tweeted.

The Pakistan legend, however, did not forget to congratulate Bangladesh on their historic triumph. The 10-wicket win was also their biggest ever victory in Test cricket. “That said, you cannot take the credit away from Bangladesh for the brand of cricket they played throughout the Test,” he added.

Shan Masood explains decision behind picking four pacers

Pakistan's bowling line-up for the first Test comprised four fast bowlers - Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Ali - and no specialist spinners. Bangladesh, on the other hand, had six spin-bowling options in hand. And it was the spinners who made the difference in the match.

Bangladesh tweakers picked nine wickets, as against none from Pakistan, seven of which came in the second innings between Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan as the visitors folded the hosts for just 146 runs, their lowest innings total against the opposition in a match.

Explaining the decision behind Pakistan's strategy in the post-match presentation, Masood admitted that they erred in reading the pitch. He said: "Never to make an excuse, it (the pitch) didn't play the way we thought it would. Also the weather it had been around in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, it rained around 8-9 days before the first day of play. Firstly looking at the pitch, we expected it to do a bit more. With three pace bowlers, they were gonna be pushed to the limit. At the end of the day, we got it wrong."

Pakistan will play the second and final Test against Bangladesh on August 30 at the same venue.

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