RAWALPINDI (Dunya News) – Pakistan's Test team captain, Shan Masood, expressed confidence in his team's performance, highlighting their quality players and commitment to deliver strong results against Bangladesh.
In a press conference held in Rawalpindi, Masood noted that spin bowling would be particularly effective on the Rawalpindi pitch, and praised his team’s six quality fast bowlers. He emphasised the importance of focusing on their performance.
Masood mentioned the need to win home matches and indicated that Mohammad Huraira, who had shown excellent form in domestic cricket, was brought in the side to replace Imam-ul-Haq as an opener.
He also stated that Imam ul Haq was rested and not dropped for this series as they found this particular series a chance to see what Muhammad Hurraira could bring to the side.
He also acknowledged that Saim Ayub was currently in good form. He noted his last innings of Ayub in Australia where he scored 33 runs.
Masood said that Saim has been included in the playing XI to give him a fair run rather than dropping him from the after one Test match.
Talking about the unexpected inclusion of Muhammad Ali over Mir Hamza, Masood said that Ali was a replacement of Aamir Jamal, and not Mir Hamza.
“Aamir Jamal could have made a significant difference here and we looked at who could replace him in this squad. So we decided to go with Muhammad Ali,” skipper said.
Additionally, Masood lauded Aamir Jamal's impressive performance in Australia, noting that while no single bowler is superior to another, bowlers must be utilised based on the conditions.