Jason Gillespie praises Shan Masood’s captaincy despite criticism following Bangladesh series defeat

Pakistan red-ball coach Jason Gillespie, shared his thoughts on Shan Masood's captaincy following the team's disappointing 0-2 whitewash against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. The series opener on August 25 saw Pakistan suffer a crushing 10-wicket defeat, marking their first-ever loss to Bangladesh. In the second Test, Pakistan faced another defeat, this time by six wickets.

Masood's captaincy, in the wake of the series loss against Bangladesh, has been subject to immense criticism from fans and cricket experts. However, Gillespie came in support of the 34-year-old, who is yet to win a match as Test captain of Pakistan with the team having suffered a 0-3 whitewash against Australia earlier this year.

“Shan, I feel, has led the side very well. We just haven’t played well as a team and that’s the reality," Gillespie said after the second Test against Bangladesh.

Gillespie's comment came over a week after Masood was seen aggressively talking to the former Australia fast bowler in the Pakistan dressing room amid the team's horror batting show in the first Test in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan have not won a Test match at home since scripting a 2-0 sweep over South Africa in December 2021, with the run including 10 straight matches, their second-longest winless streak of all time.

"We need to sharpen up on certain areas, and we will sharpen up. I really want to back and believe in these players, they are good enough and have shown glimpses of how good we are. We just need to do it more often and consistently," Gillespie further added.

The loss also dealt a major blow to their aim to reach the WTC final for the first time. The series loss saw them drop to the eighth spot in the points table, just above bottom-placed West Indies, with their PCT being at 19.05%. The Masood-led side will next play against England, the only other team to have registered a clean sweep against Pakistan in Pakistan back in 2022, in a home series next month, comprising three Tests.