KARACHI: Consis­tency in selection remains Pakistan foremost policy in their bid to build a strong Test side, captain Shan Masood has said.

Shan’s captaincy tenure, which started in December last year, has seen the national red-ball team beaten in all the five matches they have played, with the recent 2-0 Test whitewash against Bangladesh being their lowest point.

Pakistan’s next assignment is even harder, as they host England for a three-match series, starting on Oct. 7 in Multan. The squad for the opening fixture hasn’t undergone any significant changes despite the magnitude of the Bangladesh shock, suggesting the Pakistan team management considers the Test project a work in progress.

“[…] to build any team, you need to back the boys, show consistency in selection,” Shan said in a press conference here at the National Bank Stadium on Monday. “It’s very easy to change things in defeat; you can change the team, change many things, change your playing style.

“But when we made a commitment that we wanted to take this Test team forward, we wanted to advance Pakistan cricket, consistency and backing are crucial.”

That being said, Shan reiterated that Pakistan’s whitewash at the hands of Bangladesh — after the team showed glimpses of their potential against a strong Australian side Down Under months earlier — was “unacceptable”, and that the players were raring to turn things around on the forthcoming opportunity to.

“We are accountable for the results that have not been up to the mark, but the important thing is that we back our players,” said the 34-year-old. “I can assure you all that the pain and hurt among the players is significant, and they are eager to come back in this series and deliver their best performances.

“You don’t become bad players overnight, but I think it is our responsibility to turn this around and lead Pakistan cricket in a good direction through this England series.”

Shan noted that Pakistan have lately displayed patterns of playing well in low-pressure patches during games but committing errors in the latter stages, hence not being able to garner favourable results.

The left-handed batter talked about how Pakistan scored nearly 450 runs in the first innings of the opening Test against Bangladesh and had the visitors struggling at 218-5 before they were allowed to pile up 565 runs.

Similarly, he mentioned how Bang­la­desh were once 26-6 in their first innings of the second Test and Pakistan failed to take advantage of the situation.

The Pakistan captain mentioned both scenarios to explain how Pakistan needed to improve their mental and physical fitness to thrive in challenging scenarios.

“It’s about how we can improve our physical and mental fitness to handle pressure as the game progresses,” observed Shan. “As the game goes into the later days, the pressure increases both physically and mentally.

“Our goal should be to enhance this aspect, especially since we will be playing in Multan, where the weather will also be a challenging factor.

“We have established a non-negotiable fitness standard and values that we must maintain if we want to become a better Test team.”

Shan suggested Pakistan will use the first Test in Mul­tan to assess the conditions at the venue — which will also host the second match — and the opponents’ approach.

The hosts, therefore, have annou­nced the 15-man squad for only the opening game, giving themselves the options to make changes if required ahead of the last two matches.

“We have to assess what kind of combinations are serving us; Aamer Jamal is returning to the fore after injury, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, too, are technically playing Tests after a long time,” said Shan. “So if you announce one squad for all three Tests then it might become difficult for us to change it again.

“We’ll take it one match at a time.”

The Pakistan squad will assemble for the pre-series training camp in Multan on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2024