SYLHET, Bangladesh: Following a crushing 78-run defeat in the final Test, Pakistan’s top-order batter Shan Masood is expected to relinquish his role as Test captain. The loss, which took place at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday, handed Bangladesh a historic 2-0 series whitewash, their second consecutive series win over Pakistan.
A brilliant final day performance sees Bangladesh come out on top and complete a 2-0 series sweep against Pakistan 💪
#WTC27 📝: https://t.co/sOHU6hTWiK pic.twitter.com/pJAtDZUj8j— ICC (@ICC) May 20, 2026
In the aftermath, Masood avoided direct comments on his captaincy future, but later admitted the decision lies with the cricket board. The defeat adds to a string of grim milestones under his leadership: Pakistan became the first team aside from Zimbabwe to lose four straight Tests to Bangladesh, and they now share their worst-ever away losing streak of seven consecutive matches.
“TABDEELI ZAROORI NAHI! MERI NIYAT SAAF HY!” said Shan Masood on his test captaincy. #PakistanCricket pic.twitter.com/yidoK0iCBy
— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) May 20, 2026
Masood’s captaincy record has slumped to 12 losses in 16 Tests, the second-most for a Pakistan captain, though Misbah-ul-Haq’s 19 losses came across 56 matches. Only two skippers, Brendan Taylor and Shakib Al Hasan, suffered 13 defeats in their first 16 Tests. Under Masood, Pakistan finished last in the previous World Test Championship (WTC) cycle and currently sit eighth in the ongoing cycle.
Shan Masood Blaming Management for the loses:
– “We need more games, we’ve just play two matches & in away conditions you need matches to figure out the conditions.We’ve played the last test about one year ago you all know that’s a huge gap”.pic.twitter.com/mwRcYDGSDV
— usman (@cricbyusman) May 20, 2026
Despite his clean intentions, as he described them, Masood stressed that improvement won’t come from “wholesale changes” but from identifying recurring mistakes. He pointed to squandered advantages, Bangladesh were 116-6 on day one in Sylhet before Litton Das’s century lifted them to 278, mirroring similar collapses in Pakistan’s home series against Bangladesh in 2024.
Masood’s own batting has been under scrutiny, averaging under 26 in the series and just over 30 in his 46-Test career. Still, he rejected calls for drastic lineup changes, emphasizing instead that “structural changes” are needed, driven by root-cause analysis rather than emotion.
“We are hurt and always offer our sincerest apologies,” Masood said. “But we won’t look at it emotionally, just how we can improve.”
