Follow UsPakistan Test captain Shan Masood couldn’t hide his excitement after winning a series at home after almost four years. The Men in Green lost the first Test by an innings and 47 runs but then prepared turning tracks for the last two games and ended up winning them by 152 runs and nine wickets respectively.
“London buses, they come together. First Test win came after a long time, now the series win. This means a lot for me, the players, the coaches and the management - they came through a lot. The character says a lot, this is a special moment and you can't take this off the team,” said Masood after winning the third and final Test on October 26 (Saturday).
Saud Shakeel was the star with the bat, crafting 134 off 223 deliveries to give Pakistan a handy first innings lead. Meanwhile, spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali once again did all the damage, picking up 19 wickets in the game. In the last two Tests they played, the duo scalped 39 wickets between them. In fact, Pakistan didn’t use a single over of pace in the entire match.
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“Saud Shakeel, I can say that's one of the best hundred I've seen, 70 singles, what an effort, Sajid and Noman, what can I say about them. Zahid fielded well, Jamal, he might have created a world record of a pacer to have not bowled a single ball in the Test, the biggest point of satisfaction was that we had a change in conditions, we ourselves hadn't played on such challenging pitches before.”
Pakistan dropped three of their big guns - Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi - after the opening Test. Masood said Pakistan have enough depth, all they needed to do was find a way to pick 20 wickets. “We have quality in our batting and bowling, the depth is there. I've always said that we need to take 20 wickets to win a Test and that's what we achieved here.
“This series win is for the people of Pakistan who have suffered a lot with us, thankful for the English team, the contests between the two teams are always memorable and I wish we play more, possibly a five-match series.”
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