Kamal Ghorui
Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood
Pakistan’s crushing defeat to Bangladesh in the opening Test has reportedly sparked serious dressing-room tension, with captain Shan Masood and pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi involved in a heated exchange after the loss.Pakistan were bowled out for just 163 while chasing 268 in Dhaka, slipping to a 104-run defeat — their third consecutive Test loss to Bangladesh after the 2024 home series setbacks. The defeat was compounded by an ICC sanction, with Pakistan fined 40 per cent of their match fee and docked eight points in the ICC World Test Championship 2025–27 for slow over-rate.Dressing-room blame game after collapseAccording to Telecom Asia Sport, tensions flared in the dressing room when Shan questioned the pace attack’s inability to create pressure, particularly targeting Shaheen’s drop in speed.“A disgruntled Shan blamed lack of speed from the pace attack, pointing a finger at Shaheen whose average speed was 132 kph, much below Bangladesh’s Nahid Rana,” the report quoted sources as saying.Shan reportedly told the bowlers: “We failed to create pressure because of lack of speed and that is alarming.”The comments did not go down well with Shaheen, who reportedly fired back by pointing to Pakistan’s batting collapse.“To this Shaheen 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,” sources told Telecom Asia Sport.ALSO READ: ICC punishes Pakistan after historic Bangladesh Test defeatICC punishment worsens setbackPakistan’s troubles deepened when the ICC confirmed the team had been ruled eight overs short. The penalty left them on just four points, dropping them to eighth in the WTC table.The same report claimed analysts had repeatedly warned Shan about the over-rate during the Test.Changes likely for second TestThe loss has reportedly forced changes ahead of the second Test in Sylhet. Shaheen and opener Imam-ul-Haq are expected to be dropped, while Babar Azam is set to return after recovering from injury.Senior batter Mohammad Rizwan also reportedly came under criticism after falling for 59 when Pakistan were in a strong first-innings position.
