Pakistan’s defeat to Bangladesh in the first Test didn’t just hurt on the scoreboard—it’s stirred up a mess behind the scenes too. Tension spilled over in the dressing room, with captain Shan Masood and pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi getting into a heated exchange after the game. Shan, frustrated and at a loss, called out his fast bowlers for not bowling fast enough, aiming his criticism straight at Shaheen, whose average pace sat at 132 kph. That’s quite a bit slower than Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana, who was clocking around 145 kph.
Shan didn’t mince words: “We failed to create pressure because of lack of speed, and that’s alarming.” Shaheen wasn’t having it though. He shot back, blaming the batters for failing to get a first-innings lead, and told Shan to focus on his own batting instead. Hard to argue—Shan only managed scores of nine and two in the match, the lowest return among any of the top four batters from both sides.
That wasn’t the end of Pakistan’s troubles. The team got docked eight crucial World Test Championship points for a slow over rate, with match referee Jeff Crowe finding them eight overs behind. Every player also lost 40 percent of his match fee. According to sources, the blame for that falls on Shan as well; the team analyst kept flagging the slow over rate, session after session, but nothing changed. Losing those points leaves Pakistan eighth in the WTC standings, just above West Indies, with only 12 points from their win against South Africa last year.
Wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan also came under fire for a reckless shot in the first innings. He was set on 59, and Pakistan looked in a good place to take the lead, but he played a careless shot and got out. Coaches pulled him aside—not a full-on reprimand, but they told him he needs to take more responsibility out in the middle.
The team’s collapse was brutal. They went from 5-349 to 368 all out, giving up a 27-run lead instead of pushing for a commanding position. There were even calls to drop Rizwan and bring in Ghazi Ghori, but the management decided to stick with Rizwan.
Now, some changes are coming. Shaheen and opener Imam-ul-Haq are likely to be dropped for the second Test in Sylhet, starting Saturday. Babar Azam is fit again and set to return, while Khurram Shahzad—known for his red-ball skills—will come in. Team management also shot down rumors that Babar faked an injury to avoid a green pitch in Dhaka, insisting nothing shady happened there.
It’s chaotic, and Pakistan’s Test squad is under a lot of heat. They need to sort themselves out—and fast.
