Dhaka, May 15 (IANS) Pakistan’s shocking defeat against Bangladesh in the first Test has triggered war of words and discontent in the team’s dressing room after an altercation between a hapless skipper Shan Masood and under-performing pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Pakistan failed to survive two sessions of the first Test on Tuesday and were bowled out for a paltry 163 – their second lowest total against Bangladesh — in a chase of 268 – to suffer their third consecutive defeat against the Tigers following their two losses at home in 2024.

“A disgruntled Shan blamed lack of speed from the pace attack, pointing a finger at Shaheen whose average speed was 132 kph, much below the pace of Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana who bowled around 145 kph on average,” sources told Telecom Asia Sport.

“We failed to create pressure because of lack of speed and that is alarming,” Shan told the bowlers.

“To this Shaeen hit back by blaming the poor batting that failed to get a first innings lead and told the skipper to mind his own performance with the bat,” said source.

Shan managed nine and two in the Test, the lowest by any top four batters from either side.

To add injury to insult, Pakistan was docked eight points on slow over rate after match referee Jeff Crowe found them eight overs short in the match. All the players are also fined 40 percent of their match fee.

“The blame of slow over rate squarely lies on skipper Shan as he was constantly informed by the team analyst of the slow over rate session by session but the captain and bowlers failed to control that. It is a massive blow to Pakistan’s WTC (World Test Championship) chances,” said source.

With eight points deducted, Pakistan now lies eighth in the nine-team World Test Championship table one place above the West Indies. They had 12 points from their win against South Africa at home last year.

Senior wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan also came under scrutiny from the coaching staff on a poor shot in the first innings.

“Rizwan was set on 59 and Pakistan was looking set to get a first innings lead before Rizwan played a rash shot and got out. The coaching staff fell short of scolding the senior player but told him to realize his responsibility,” said sources.

Pakistan collapsed from 5-349 to 368, conceding a 27-run lead rather than establishing a big lead to gain an advantage.

There were calls to drop Rizwan and try newcomer Ghazi Ghori but the management decided against this.

Pakistan is set to drop Shaheen and opener Imam-ul-Haq for the second Test starting in Sylhet from Saturday, bringing as fit-again Babar Azam will stage a comeback while red-ball specialist Khurram Shahzad will be inducted.

“The team management also denied any wrongdoing in Babar’s injury, quelling reports he ran away after seeing a green top pitch at Sher-e-Bangla stadium in Dhaka. “

–IANS

hs/