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"I will never blame anyone": Pakistan captain Shan Masood reflects on side's defeat against Bangladesh

Pakistan captain Shan Masood admitted that the entire team must accept responsibility following their heavy defeat against Bangladesh in the first Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. After Bangladesh secured a commanding 104-run victory on the final day, Masood bemoaned the many opportunities Pakistan failed to capitalise on throughout the match. Masood also stated that Pakistan, after getting themselves into strong positions at different stages of the Test, repeatedly allowed the momentum to slip away.
"At the end of the day, the whole team will have to take responsibility and accountability. As a team, we will have to self-reflect; I think we had moments. But Test cricket doesn't forgive you. In Test cricket, until you play the perfect game at the top, until you take the game's situation into account or make more mistakes, then in Test cricket, you will always be on the other side of the result," Masood said at the press conference.
"Obviously, you will give me statistics, and I will accept it. In Test cricket, there are a lot of things which we will have to improve. I will never blame anyone; I myself will accept responsibility, but I always try to look at what things we can improve to become a good team," he said.
"If you ask me about my intentions, my pure intentions are in that direction, whether it's team selection, whether it's playing, whether that's my batting position, (or) whether it is anything related to the team. In all this, the most important thing is how we can be better. Test cricket asks for your best. You never play Test cricket against a weaker team. We have the second Test match now; we will analyse it properly, reflect, try not to repeat the mistakes we have made," Masood said.
Bangladesh headed into the final day with massive determination by declaring late in the morning session and setting Pakistan a challenging target of 268 runs. Defending the target, Bangladesh built relentless pressure with the ball to bundle out Pakistan for 163 and clinch a memorable win. Meanwhile, Masood felt that it was a good wicket, dishing out something for everyone.
"I thought it was a very good Test wicket. It had something for everyone; I thought the spinners actually created pressure for the fast bowlers to take wickets. Like in the first innings, when we lost seven wickets to spinners, I thought it was the pace attack that actually bowled well, and then the spinners, while they were containing, were able to pick up a few more wickets than what I thought would be usual. So it was a good Test wicket. It had everything for everyone," he said.
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