"Haven't found our ideal way of playing at home": Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood
Aug 13, 2024
Lahore [Pakistan], August 14 : Ahead of a busy schedule, Pakistan Test team captain Shan Masood admitted that his team is still on the hunt to find the "ideal way" of playing red-ball cricket on their home soil that suits their style of play.
Masood took over Babar Azam as the captain of the Test team in November last year. Under his captaincy, Pakistan suffered a whitewash against Australia during their away Test tour.
In their past five-Test series, Pakistan have managed to win one, which came against Sri Lanka last year.
Their overall performances have made it hard for them to breach the World Test Championships final in the last two cycles. Pakistan's home form has been a cause of concern for them in their attempt to reach the WTC final as well.
Since staging a win against South Africa in 2021, Pakistan have lost their past three home Test series.
For Masood, the first step towards establishing itself as a dominant side is becoming a formidable side at home.
"In Test cricket, which is the ultimate challenge in the game, you have to be familiar with certain conditions. Yes, we've been playing at home since 2019, but other teams have been playing on their home soils for much longer. We still have to decide what our best approach at home is," Masood said in the PCB podcast.
"If I'm being brutally honest, in home Test matches, because they've been played at different times of the year and against different nations, we still haven't found our ideal way of playing at home that suits our batting, bowling, and overall style. We need to determine what helps us win as a team. How can we create conditions that suit us more and put us in the driving seat, rather than just thinking about how we can cope with the opposition?" he added.
Pakistan have a jam-packed Test calendar ahead of them. They will face Bangladesh in a two-match Test series, kicking off on August 21 at Rawalpindi, with the second test scheduled to be held in Karachi on August 30.
After that. Pakistan will host five more Tests at home, against England and then the West Indies. In between, they will play a two-match Test series against South Africa as well.
