Shan Masood Admits Bowling Mistakes After Defeat to South Africa

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood admitted that his side failed to capitalize on key moments during the first innings, resulting in their defeat against South Africa in the second Test match.

Speaking after the match, Masood said, “Unfortunately, we didn’t bowl well towards the end of the first innings and missed several opportunities to take wickets. The South African team played outstanding cricket and deserves full credit for their performance.”

Discussing the team’s overall performance, Pakistan’s Test coach Azhar Mahmood said, “We played our last Test in January and have played very few matches since then. To improve, we need to play more Test cricket — last year, we played only four matches.”

He added, “We need to learn from the opposition. When we went in to bat, we got too defensive. Had we scored around 200 runs, the game could have been different. We didn’t manage things well.”

Read more: Shan Masood & Babar Azam Lead Pakistan’s Resilient Fightback in Second Test

Commenting on individual performances, Azhar Mahmood said, “Players must master their own game. These pitches are better than those in the West Indies, but we lost a wicket in the very first over. We’ll only learn to handle pressure when we play more Tests.”

He further noted, “If we look at Babar and Abdullah, they haven’t played much first-class cricket. They need to spend more time in domestic cricket. Salman Agha is a good player, and in the England series, Nauman and Sajid contributed valuable runs. We have to be consistent in our selection process.”