PAK vs BAN: Videos showing rift in Pakistan cricket team surface after 10-wicket defeat vs Bangladesh in 1st Test

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PAK vs BAN: Pakistan cricket has never failed to garner eyeballs, and the politics in the team and board also keeps the fans engaged with the team which has a knack of giving surprising results.

On Sunday (August 25), Pakistan were hammered by Bangladesh in the first Test by 10 wickets. They declared in the first innings, only to lose their first-ever Test match against Bangladesh. Also, it was for the first time that Pakistan lost a Test match by 10-wicket margin at home.

Pakistan were bundled out for 146 in the first innings after declaring at 448/6 in the first. The top-order collapsed on both the occasions. Pakistan cricket has gone downhill ever since their exit from the Asia Cup 2023. They failed to qualify for the World Cup 2023 final, and exited after the first round of T20 World Cup 2024.

Reports of rifts between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi have always popped up from time-to-time, and the first Test match against Bangladesh brought a new participant in the ongoing saga.

A couple of videos from the first Test, showing the rift in Pakistan cricket team have surfaced. In one of the videos, Shaheen Afridi can be seen removing Test captain Shah Masood's hand from his shoulder, while in the second Masood can be seen having an animated and frustrated chat with head coach Jason Gillespie.

Fans have reckoned that Masood was frustrated due to a catch dropped by Babar Azam when Mushfiqur Rahim was batting on 150. The veteran batter added another 41 runs to his individual tally after the dropped catch and helped Bangladesh get a 117-run first innings lead.

"We could have done with more runs but there were also things with the ball and in the field that we could’ve done better to either take a lead or keep them at par,” Masood said after the defeat.

Notably, Shaheen Afridi was named Pakistan's T20I captain after Babar Azam stepped down from captaincy across all formats after the 2023 World Cup debacle. However, Babar returned to lead Pakistan in the T20I World Cup 2024. Shan Masood is leading Pakistan in his second Test series.