After the defeat he tried to explain some of Pakistan’s missteps – and maybe we put this down to post-hoc shock – but it was all slightly frazzled. They picked four fast bowlers because what if one got injured. They didn’t think about a final-day scenario because of the weather forecast. Bangladesh’s inside edges went for four, Pakistan’s hit the stumps. They declared too soon.
There was also a double batting failure, which, in any final reckoning, will weigh heaviest. Because the only currency of the Pakistan captaincy (and probably captaincy anywhere) is personal performance. Keep that up and it is the realest, quickest way to establish authority.
By contrast, Masood has a couple of fifties, a couple of starts, plenty of coulda beens, in his first eight innings, which has only amplified the doubts about his Test batting. It is part of a longer underwhelming run. Since he hit a career-best 156 against England in Manchester four years ago, Masood has been averaging less than 19 in 13 Tests (when Misbah took over, he came in averaging 24 in the nine Tests before it).
It has been, in truth, an underwhelming career, some of it down to Masood, some of it to the capriciousness of Pakistani selection: it takes both to stitch together a staccato career of 34 Tests in 11 years.
Ultimately, though, his record will fall on him. Now heap the losses as captain on top and you can see where this is heading. If he doesn’t score runs in Rawalpindi this week and Pakistan fail to win, his captaincy and place in the side become untenable. If he doesn’t score runs but Pakistan win, he may buy himself a little bit of time. If he scores runs and Pakistan wins, then perhaps the pressure eases a touch until England arrive.
All of which is a shame. There’s always been much to like about Masood, the willingness to reinvent himself, to learn, to try and improve his game. And all told, he made a decent fist of his first series as captain, where, with better catching, Pakistan might even have won a first Test in Australia in nearly 30 years. He was more proactive than Babar. He batted like he wanted his side to play (though never for long enough). He squeezed more than could be expected out of a weakened bowling attack. If ever a captain comes out of a whitewash with a little credit, it was here.
In sport, however, credit doesn’t last long and the line may soon be at an end for Masood.
