Pakistan suffered an embarrassing 2-0 Test series loss at the hands of Bangladesh on Tuesday. It was the side’s first-ever series defeat in the format at the hands of the Bangla Tigers. The Shan Masood-led side was already subjected to harsh criticism ever since it lost the first Test, and a series whitewash only added to its trouble. Many experts, including former batter Salman Butt, lashed out at the side’s performance. However, Butt criticized those experts, who asked the Pakistan batters to improve their strike rate in Test cricket.
“The strike rate mafia and intent mafia are basically illiterates of cricket. They have no idea about the format they are talking about,” said Butt in a video on his YouTube channel.
“You lose within four days and come back, what are you going to do by playing fast? You played just 46 overs. What hurry do you have? Why don’t you understand that your job is to bat long?”
“Do the greats of the game play like highlights? Do the likes of Joe Root, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma score runs in this fashion?” he questioned.
Pakistan hit rock bottom after dropping to eighth position in the latest ICC Test Rankings, their lowest since 1965.
The series of setbacks continued for Pakistan following their historic whitewash against Bangladesh in their two-match home Test series.
It was the first instance when Pakistan tasted the sour flavour of defeat against Bangladesh in red-ball cricket.
Their latest slump marked their lowest ranking in the Test format, barring the period where they did not have a place in the rankings due to an insufficient number of matches.
In the opening Test match of the series, Pakistan had their backs against the wall, with Bangladesh playing a much more aggressive brand of cricket.
Pakistan struggled to understand the nature of the surface that was on offer and succumbed to a 10-wicket defeat. They suffered a six-wicket loss in the second game to see Bangladesh script a historic whitewash.
The impact of the result changed the entire outlook of the ICC World Test Championship standings.
With a 2-0 series win, Bangladesh leapfrogged England to number four with a point percentage of 45.83.
Meanwhile, with two wins in seven matches, Pakistan dropped to the eighth position with a point percentage of 19.05.
(With PTI Inputs)
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