The Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood feels excited looking at the pace attack for the opening Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh, starting on August 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He feels that their pacers are quite skillful in these conditions to take 20 wickets in the game.
Pakistan is fifth in the ongoing third cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) and will look to give a fight for the second spot in the table. They made a great start in the current cycle, with the series victory in Sri Lanka, before they lost the series in Australia under Shan Masood.
To go beyond New Zealand and South Africa in the points table, Pakistan need to win both the series against Bangladesh and England at home before they fly to the Rainbow nation at the end of the year before returning to face West Indies in the longest format of the game.
Shan Masood hints at playing six pacers in the Bangladesh series
The Green Brigade has found their veteran pacers, left-arm speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi, making a comeback in the Test team along with Naseem Shah, who was injured, while they have given chances to Mir Hamza, Khurram Shahzad, and Mohammad Ali in the pace department.
Also Read: “Loved Steve Smith Batting At No. 4”- Usman Khawaja Doesn’t Want Him To Open In Tests
In a recent podcast, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), captain Shan Masood spoke about the importance of managing the fitness and workload of the fast bowlers during the upcoming Test series, as they have a very busy schedule coming.
They will play five Tests at home before flying to Australia and Zimbabwe for a white-ball series. In their trip to South Africa, they will play games across formats before coming back to host Kraigg Braithwaite-led side for a Test series.
At the end of that, they have a tri-series coming, involving New Zealand and South Africa, before the start of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at home, which will be followed by their tour to New Zealand for another white-ball series and the upcoming edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2025.
The left-handed batter touched on the point of how Shaheen Afridi featured in the first two Tests in Australia during their last series in 2023 before the management was forced to rest him for the third game in Sydney.
“You have to manage their [pacers] workload. Like Shaheen Afridi in Australia, he played two Test matches on the bounce, and we had to rest him for the third one because there was a heavy schedule coming up for him. We’ll keep looking at that.” The veteran expressed in the podcast with Bazid Khan.
The 34-year-old is quite charged up looking at their pace department, mentioning the fact that the current squad is carrying six quality and highly talented pacers, each of whom is capable of offering something unique to the team.
“But the exciting part is that in our current squad, we’ve got six exciting fast bowlers. All six of them can claim the playing XI, and all six offer something different.” Shan Masood remarked. “Wherever someone is required, and if it allows us to rest one of our premier bowlers, I think we’ll be in good stead, and it will give experience to the ones who play.”
Also Read: Basit Ali Slams Shan Masood For Inattention On 2 Tests vs Bangladesh
The Kuwait-born also shared that the team is confident and trusts each other’s abilities, which is the most vital aspect of the game. If someone isn’t available, then others can step up to do the job for them.
“We’re equally confident that the ones who step in—the new guys like Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Muhammad Ali, and even Aamer Jamal to an extent.” Shan Masood, the Pakistan leader, concluded. “When they step in, whether Shaheen or Naseem Shah or another isn’t available, they all offer something that can win Pakistan games and pick those 20 crucial wickets.”
