Pakistan's Test captain Shan Masood has made honest admission about the quality of his side and other top nations.
Pakistan are preparing for rare jam-packed home season starting with a two-Test series against Bangladesh. Shan, who led Pakistan for the first in Australia, has called on to play more Test cricket.
Pakistan will play nine Tests this season which is for the first time over 25 years that they will play this many Tests since 1998-99 season when they played ten.
Masood contended that the erratic, stop-start nature of this scheduling has led to a widening gap between the big three—India, Australia, and England—and the other Full Members.
"We need more Test cricket," Masood said on the PCB podcast. "We play a lot of domestic cricket, so I don't think we can blame that. We do play ten first-class matches minimum, and with the introduction of departmental cricket, some players ended up playing 16-17 first-class matches in a year.
"For me, it's more about how we can get our team to play more Test matches. That comes down to scheduling, reducing the gaps, and ensuring we have consistent Test squads going forward. We're playing nine Test matches in four months, but we've also had to deal with an unfortunate calendar where we played in Australia, and then we're playing our next Test after ten months. These are challenges that Pakistan cricket needs to address going forward."
"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."
Masood believes the first step, however, is to become more formidable at home. For a few seasons after Test cricket returned to Pakistan, they established a winning record on home soil. However, since defeating South Africa in January 2021, Pakistan have failed to win in three consecutive home series and have not even secured a single Test victory. They were whitewashed by England before narrowly escaping with a 0-0 draw against New Zealand.
"In Test cricket, which is the ultimate challenge in the game, you have to be familiar with certain conditions," Masood said. "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.
"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. That's something we need to quickly figure out.
"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?"
SCHEDULE OF PAKISTAN’S HOME INTERNATIONAL MATCHES IN 2024-25:
Bangladesh in Pakistan (Two Tests)
21-25 Aug – First Test, Rawalpindi
30 Aug-3 Sep – Second Test, Karachi
England in Pakistan (Three Tests)
7-11 Oct – First Test, Multan
15-19 Oct – Second Test, Karachi
24-28 Oct – Third Test, Rawalpindi
West Indies in Pakistan (Two Tests)
16-20 Jan – First Test, Karachi
24-28 Jan – Second Test, Multan
New Zealand and South Africa in Pakistan (ODI tri-series)
8 Feb – Pakistan v New Zealand, Multan
10 Feb – New Zealand v South Africa, Multan
12 Feb – Pakistan v South Africa, Multan
14 Feb – Final, Multan
ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Schedule to be announced by the ICC; participating teams are: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa.
19 Feb-Opening match
9 Mar – Final
SCHEDULE OF PAKISTAN’S AWAY INTERNATIONAL MATCHES IN 2024-25:
Pakistan to Australia (three ODIs, three T20Is)
4 Nov – First ODI, Melbourne
8 Nov – Second ODI, Adelaide
10 Nov – Third ODI, Perth
14 Nov – First T20I, Brisbane
16 Nov – Second T20I, Sydney
18 Nov – Third T20I, Hobart
Pakistan to Zimbabwe (three ODIs, three T20Is)
24 Nov – First ODI, Bulawayo
26 Nov – Second ODI, Bulawayo
28 Nov – Third ODI, Bulawayo
1 Dec – First T20I, Bulawayo
3 Dec – Second T20I, Bulawayo
5 Dec – Third T20I, Bulawayo
Pakistan to South Africa (Three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests)
10 Dec – First T20I, Durban
13 Dec – Second T20I, Centurion
14 Dec – Third T20I, Johannesburg
17 Dec – First ODI, Paarl
19 Dec – Second ODI, Cape Town
22 Dec – Third ODI, Johannesburg
26-30 Dec – First Test, Centurion
3-7 Jan – Second Test, Cape Town
