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Spinners Sajid Khan and Noman Ali made hay with the new ball in Multan, taking nine wickets between them to bundle out West Indies for 137 before captain Shan Masood's second-innings fifty helped Pakistan to build a 202-run lead on the second day of the first test on Saturday.
Spin wizards Noman Ali and Sajid Khan guided Pakistan to a strong position against the West Indies after another spin dominated second day's play in the opening Test in Multan on Saturday. The pair shared nine wickets between them to dismiss the West Indies for a paltry 137 in reply to the home team's 230 all out earlier in the day. By the close, Pakistan stretched the 93-run lead to 202 by scoring 109-3 in their second innings, with Kamran Ghulam and Saud Shakeel batting on nine and two respectively when bad light ended play 25 minute before time.
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has backed the proposed two-tier system in red-ball cricket but asserted that "it should be on a relegation and promotion basis" to make it more exciting. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Cricket Australia chair Mike Baird, England and Wales Cricket Board chief Richard Thompson, and BCCI representatives will meet ICC Chairman Jay Shah later this month to discuss about a potential two-tier Test system starting in 2027. The proposed system will allow big three nations - India, England and Australia - to play each other more often.
Ahead of the first Test against West Indies, Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood said the team would like to finish their World Test Championship (WTC) cycle on a winning team. Pakistan will face West Indies in the two-match Test series commencing at the Multan Cricket Stadium from January 17. The second Test will also be played at the same venue starting on January 25. West Indies, who will play a Test match in Pakistan for the first time since December 2006, are currently at the bottom of the WTC table. In the last Test series between the two sides on Pakistan soil, PCB Hall of Famer Inzamam-ul-Haq led the home side to a 2-0 win in the three-match Test series.
Pakistan on Saturday recalled discarded opener Imam ul Haq for the Test series against the West Indies after an ankle injury forced regular opener Saim Ayub out of the series. Imam, who last played in a Test for Pakistan in Australia in 2023-24, has been joined by uncapped pacer Kashif Ali in the 15-member squad. Imam also got a call-up since the selectors have dropped Abdullah Shafique who had been opening regularly with Saim in Test and ODIs but lost form on recent tours to Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Pakistan have been fined 25 per cent of their match fee and penalised five ICC World Test Championship points for maintaining a slow over-rate against South Africa in the second Test in Cape Town. "Richie Richardson of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees imposed the sanction after Pakistan were ruled to be five overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration," the ICC said in a statement on Tuesday.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood believes the ball-tracking depicted by the Hawkeye didn't paint the correct picture which led to his dismissal in the second innings of the final Test of the series against South Africa, reported ESPNCricinfo. Masood, batting at 145, was trapped in front of the stumps by debutant Kwena Maphaka. The on-field umpire, Nitin Menon, initially turned down the appeals which led to South Africa taking the decision upstairs by exercising the option of DRS. During the review, the trajectory depicted that the ball would have gone to crash into the stumps, leading to the overturning of the on-field decision.
While Pakistan did end up losing by 10 wickets against South Africa in the second Test at Cape Town, it was after a valiant fight in the second innings where they posted a total of 478 while following on. After South Africa posted 615 in their first innings, Pakistan were skittled over for just 194, forcing them to follow-on. However, led by a superb 145 by captain Shan Masood, Pakistan fought hard in the second innings, ultimately setting a new record on South African soil.