The ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings for Pakistan fell to their lowest point since 1965 after the Shan Masood-led team lost to Bangladesh in a historic series.

Bangladesh completed a clean sweep and won their first-ever series against the Green Shirts by defeating Pakistan by six wickets in the second Test match. With a commanding 10-wicket margin, the touring team had won the opening Test.

Pakistan dropped two spots to seventh place with 66 rating points after their consecutive losses against Bangladesh.

Apart from a brief period when they were not included in the rankings because of not enough matches played, this is the lowest rating points Pakistan has had in the Test rankings table since 1965, according to an ICC press release.

Bangladesh, on the other hand, increased their rating points by 13, however they are still trailing Pakistan in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings, having moved up to ninth.

Pakistan’s drop in the rankings has allowed Sri Lanka and the West Indies to move up one spot to sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Following Pakistan’s defeat in the second Test against Bangladesh, captain Shan Masood said, “We are extremely disappointed. We were excited for the home season, but the story has been the same as Australia.”

“Our lessons have not been learned.” Though we didn’t think we were doing a good enough job, we still needed to improve our cricket game in Australia.

Masood stressed the importance of working towards improving Pakistani cricket during Tuesday’s post-match press conference held here.

“We express regret to the country. Masood stated, “Our shared objective should be to work toward improving Pakistani cricket.

“In the Test format, we need more seasoned players. I’m really appreciative of the selectors’ and our shared democratic perspective on the playing XIs and selectors.

Before conceding that the national players must improve their fitness to perform well in the game’s longest format, Shan Masood emphasized Bangladesh’s advantages that helped them achieve their historic triumph.

“We ought to show respect to those who disagree with us,” I believe. Shan stated, “Every opposition has its unique attributes. In both Test matches, Bangladesh’s discipline outperformed ours.

We must examine our errors, and there were many of them in this series.

“I believe we need to work on our physical and mental fitness, as test cricket demands both of those things.”

In the first Test, Shan Masood revealed that the decision to go with an all-pace attack was decided after taking the pacers’ level of fitness into account.

We believed that using three pacers would put them under excessive strain; therefore, we decided to play four pacers in the first test owing to fitness concerns. Sadly, we lost a pacer in every innings of the second Test when we decided to use three pacers.

On Day 4 of the second Test match against Pakistan, terrible light forced an early end to the play. Bangladesh’s opener, Zakir Hasan, performed a fast knock to put 42 runs on the board without losing.

On Day 5, Bangladesh needs to score 148 runs to win the series. Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam will resume their innings at 31 and 9, respectively.

Before that, Hasan Mahmud spearheaded the bowling assault, helping Bangladesh restrict Pakistan to a pitiful 172 in the second innings with his first-ever five-wicket haul.

With an undefeated 47 from 71 balls that featured seven boundaries and one six, Salman Ali Agha continued to be Pakistan’s leading scorer.

Along the way, he added a vital 27-run partnership with the last man, Mir Hamza (4), becoming Hasan Mahmud’s fifth victim.

With stats of 4-44, Nahid Rana was Bangladesh’s most important bowler aside from Hasan.

Early in the second session, Muhammad Rizwan of Pakistan was dismissed after getting caught behind Hasan’s delivery. Rizwan made a courageous 43 off 73.

Mir Hamza came to the crease when Mohammad Ali fell on the opening ball, but Abrar played 12 balls before Nahid Rana removed him.

Day 4 lunchtime saw Pakistan struggling at 117-6 after Bangladesh’s pacers had earlier wrecked havoc in the opening session, claiming four crucial wickets.

After Bangladeshi bowlers displayed an amazing display of pace bowling, Mohammad Rizwan ignited Pakistan’s comeback with an undefeated 38. When the lunch was called, Salman Ali Agha was undefeated at seven.

The scoreline read 9-2 when Saim Ayub and skipper Shan Masood took the pitch for the first play of the fourth day.

Before Taskin Ahmed removed Saim, who had scored 20 off 35, the two batsmen had made a good start, hitting boundaries and hitting at regular intervals.

Shan soon trailed behind his buddy after being caught off guard by Nahid Rana. From 34 balls, the Pakistani skipper scored 28 runs.

Pakistan fell to 81-6 as Nahid removed Babar Azam and Saud Shakeel in his next two overs.

The squad then came together under the leadership of Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha, with the former scoring the majority of the runs to prevent more damage before lunch.

In the latter moments of the third day, nightwatchman Khurram Shahzad and opening batsman Abdullah Shafique had been lost by Pakistan.

Before that, Litton Das, the leading scorer, and Salman Ali Agha claimed the last two wickets to book Bangladesh for 262.

Khurram had the best bowling numbers (6-90), followed by Mir Hamza and Salman with two each.

With the help of a 69-run partnership with Hassan Mehmud (13), Litton amassed a valiant century and raised Bangladesh’s total from 193 to 262.

With 13 boundaries and four sixes, the wicketkeeper amassed the highest total of 138 runs off 228 balls.

After dominating the second session against Pakistan, he was undefeated at 83 as Bangladesh went to tea with 193-8 on the board.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Litton put up a partnership of 165 runs, both of which scored a half-century, and helped Bangladesh rally from a 26-6 deficit.

They took aim at the Pakistani bowlers and hit boundaries all over the pitch before Khurram caught Mehidy and bowled him.

After hitting 78 runs off 124 balls, including twelve boundaries and one six, the all-round player was declared out. On the third day, Taskin Ahmed also lost to Khurram at the stroke of tea.

Before this, Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam of Bangladesh opened the day with a combined score of 10/0.

But Khurram Shahzad’s masterful spell of traditional pace bowling left the Bangladeshi batsmen thoroughly perplexed, thus they were unable to add anything to the score.

He removed Zakir with a fine delivery on the final ball of the day’s fourth over, thanks to an easy catch by Abrar Ahmed.

Khurram dismissed Shadman with an inswinger on the opening ball of his subsequent over. Although he failed to complete the hat trick, he dismissed Bangladeshi skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto in the same over.

In the subsequent over, Mir Hamza also made a guest appearance, dismissing Mominul Haque.

After that, with the scoreboard reading 26–6, Bangladeshi veterans Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan were defeated by Mir and Khurram, respectively.

By putting up a valiant 49-run partnership for the seventh wicket, Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz demonstrated their resilience and helped the side reach 75-6 runs at the conclusion of the first session without suffering any more losses.

Day 2 saw Bangladeshi bowlers, led by Mehidy Hasan Miraz, bowl out Pakistan on 274 runs.

Mehidy was Bangladesh’s best bowler, with five wickets, and Taskin Ahmed was second with three. Shakib Al Hasan and Nahid Rana split the two wickets.

Salman Ali Agha of Pakistan, with 54 off 95 deliveries that included three fours and two sixes, put up a strong fight against the Bangladesh bowling attack that was riding high.

Taskin Ahmed had earlier given Pakistan’s right-handed opener Abdullah Shafique a ducking by using an in-dipper, which put Pakistan in a difficult situation.

After the early setback, Masood met Ayub midway and began an incredible comeback.

Masood led the way as the two wisely batted against Bangladeshi bowlers who were in form.

With the help of two boundaries, Masood hit 57 off 69 deliveries, and Ayub struck four fours and two sixes in his 58-run innings.

For those who are unaware, the second Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh was postponed on Friday due to heavy rain.

playing XIs

Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Zakir Hasan, Mominul Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wk), Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, and Nahid Rana.

Pakistan: Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Khurram Shahzad, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood (c), Salman Ali Agha, Abrar Ahmed, Mohammad Ali, and Mohammad Rizwan (wk).