Ashwin shows sympathy with Pakistan cricket after Bangladesh whitewash

India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin expressed sympathy for the greats of Pakistan cricket after their team hit a new low, suffering a whitewash at home against Bangladesh.

Bangladesh secured victory in the first Test in Rawalpindi, winning by 10 wickets to claim their first-ever win against Pakistan in the longest format. They followed up with another triumph in the second and final Test at the same venue, winning by six wickets to seal a historic series win.

This marked Pakistan's 10th consecutive winless Test match at home, with six losses and four draws. Their last home Test victory came over three and a half years ago, against South Africa in February 2021.

The result dropped Pakistan to No. 8 in the Test rankings, with their rating points falling to the lowest level since 1965.

Ashwin remarked that it was disheartening to witness the current state of Pakistan cricket.

"What a victory for Bangladesh but what a disappointment for Pakistan. It's quite disappointing because Pakistan is not an easy team to beat. But more than 1000 days at home Pakistan haven't won at home. Pakistani cricket fans are passionate," Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.

India's second-highest wicket-taker in Tests pointed the legacy of Pakistan cricket to express his shock at the current performance. "You know who I feel for the most? It's Pakistan cricket's history. Waqar Younis, Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Imran Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Ijaz Ahmed,, Salim Malik, Saeed Anwar, Amer Sohail... I can just keep on going. What legacy that country and their cricket team has."

Ashwin took nothing away from Bangladesh, whom he called a much-improve Test side because of mixture of youth and experience in their line-up, said it was difficult to even think of beating Pakistan like this 10 years ago.

"Of course, Bangladesh have come a long way. I don't take anything away from them. Last year, when we toured Bangladesh, we knew what a good Test side Bangladesh is. They have got a lot of experience in Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan and they have also got some good young talent.

"Keeping all this aside, to see where Pakistan cricket where it is now... It was difficult to beat them even 10 years ago when Misbah, Younis Khan were there and they played their home matches in the UAE. You had the likes of Yasir Shah, you had two left-arm spinners in Adbur Rahman and Zulfiqar Babar coming in. Where they (Pakistan team) are right now, I can't believe it," Ashwin added.

On the other hand, Ashwin felt “terribly bad” for Pakistan captain Shan Masood, who has lost all five Tests since taking over the captaincy duties from Babar Azam and pointed out possible issues in the Pakistan dressing room.

"I feel terribly bad for someone like Shan Masood. Shan Masood is a very smart cricketer. I know that guy. He speaks a lot of sense. He can be a really good captain for Pakistan. But handling a Pakistan team at this point, where somebody like Babar Azam is not the captain and he's the poster boy of Pakistan, it cannot be an easy dressing room," he added.

Comments

Submit