There is a line that ESPNcricinfo — the most widely read cricket website in the world — published this week that stopped a lot of people in their tracks.
"The 1960s were wretched for Pakistan. The late 2000s awful. Right now might be worst of all."
Read that again. Not a social media account. Not an angry fan. ESPNcricinfo. The publication that covers cricket more carefully and more thoroughly than any other. And their verdict on Pakistan cricket in 2026 is that it might be the lowest point in the country's entire Test history.
It is a sentence that deserves to be taken seriously. Because the numbers behind it are not exaggerated. They are simply the record.
Since Shan Masood took over as Pakistan's Test captain in late 2023, Pakistan have won four matches and lost twelve in sixteen Tests. Twelve losses. In sixteen matches. A win percentage of 25 percent. The second-highest number of defeats for any Pakistan captain — and Masood has done it in far fewer matches than the only man ahead of him on that list.
They have been bowled out for 146 at home against Bangladesh. They lost a home series to England 3-0. They were whitewashed 3-0 in Australia. They lost in South Africa despite having the game in their hands multiple times. And last week, in Sylhet, they became the first Pakistan team in history to lose a Test series in Bangladesh — 2-0, the same scoreline that started all of this in Rawalpindi in 2024.
The same mistakes. The same collapses. The same post-match press conferences where the captain says the right things and nothing changes. That is the Pakistan Test cricket story of 2026. And it is getting harder and harder to find a reason to believe it is going to get better any time soon.
The Bangladesh Series — And Why It Was Different This Time
Pakistan have lost Test series before. They have had bad runs. They have had patches where the batting collapsed and the bowling went expensive and the fielding let them down on the same afternoon. Every Test team goes through periods like that.
But losing to Bangladesh — twice, in two years, in two separate series — is different. And the reason it is different is not about disrespecting Bangladesh. Bangladesh have earned their place in world Test cricket. They have worked for it. Their spinners are world-class. Their home conditions suit their bowling perfectly. Giving them full credit for what they have achieved is not a concession — it is just accurate.
The reason it is different is what the Bangladesh losses reveal about Pakistan. Because Bangladesh are not a team that should be bowling Pakistan out for 146, or 232, or 178. Not if Pakistan's batting is functioning the way it should. Not if the senior players — the ones who have been playing Test cricket for six, seven, eight years — are doing what senior players are supposed to do in high-pressure moments.
After the second Test defeat in Sylhet, Shan Masood said something that cut to the heart of it. "When we got ourselves into strong positions, we needed our set batters to go big in Test cricket. Those are the moments that define matches." He was right. And the problem is that he has been saying versions of the same thing for the better part of two years. Set batters not going big. Crucial moments not being seized. Strong positions being squandered.
In the first Test of this Bangladesh series, Pakistan had Bangladesh at 116 for 6 in the first innings. They allowed them to recover and post a competitive total. In the second Test, Pakistan made 360 runs in the fourth innings chasing 437 — a genuinely impressive effort that showed what this team is capable of when their backs are against the wall — but the earlier innings mistakes had already cost them the match. Pakistan consistently wait until crisis mode before responding. That has become a recurring theme.
That is not a bowling problem. That is not a fielding problem. That is a mindset problem. And mindset problems are the hardest to fix.
The Numbers That Tell The Story Nobody Wants To Tell
Pakistan's Test record under Shan Masood is not unlucky. It is not the product of a few bad days or an unfortunate sequence of away tours. It is consistent enough to be a pattern — and patterns tell you something structural is wrong.
Masood's record as captain now stands at 12 losses in 16 Tests. Only two captains in history have suffered more defeats in their first 16 Tests as captain — Brendan Taylor and Shakib Al Hasan with 13 each. That is the company Pakistan's Test captain is keeping. Those are the captains being compared to Masood not because of talent or effort but because of results.
The batting averages tell a similarly uncomfortable story. Pakistan's top six batting average in Tests in 2025-26 is below 28 — one of the lowest for any Test-playing nation in the same period. Their conversion rate — the percentage of fifties that become hundreds — is the second-lowest of any team currently ranked in the top eight of the ICC Test rankings. They are making starts. They are not finishing them.
Ramiz Raja, watching Pakistan lose to Bangladesh in 2024, said something that has aged terribly well: "If any team can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, it's the Pakistan team." That was a year and a half ago. The snatching has only continued.
South Africa. Eight down on two occasions. Pakistan could not take the last two wickets. Lost by two wickets. Australia. 3-0. England at home. 3-0. Bangladesh at home. 2-0. Bangladesh away. 2-0. The opponents change. The result does not.
Is It Masood's Fault? And Does It Even Matter?
This is the question that Pakistan cricket fans have been arguing about for eighteen months, and the honest answer is: both yes and no, and also it is the wrong question.
Shan Masood is not a bad captain. He is thoughtful, articulate, and clearly cares deeply about Pakistan cricket. His post-match interviews — unlike some of his predecessors — do not deflect or make excuses. When Pakistan lose, he stands in front of the cameras and says difficult things plainly. After Sylhet, he called for structural changes. He talked about root causes. He acknowledged that the same mistakes keep being made and that the answer is not emotional but analytical.
These are the words of someone who understands the problem. They are not the words of someone who has been able to fix it.
But here is where the "wrong question" part comes in. Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, said it best after Pakistan's 2024 series defeat to England: "I don't blame Shan Masood. You have to look at what goes on behind the scenes in Pakistan cricket. Name me one sporting environment, team or a business that does well with constant change behind the scenes — constant changes in chairman of selectors, chief executives, captains, coaches."
Since 2019, Pakistan have had four Test captains, five head coaches, and three different selection committee structures. In that same period, Australia have had one head coach and two captains. England, going through their own crisis, brought in a new coach and a new captain and committed to them — and turned around one of the most remarkable Test rebuilds in history in under two years.
Pakistan keep changing the people. They do not change the system. And the system is broken.
What The Domestic Structure Is — And Is Not — Producing
The deeper problem, the one that sits underneath all the captain changes and coach changes and selection controversies, is the domestic structure that is supposed to be producing the next generation of Pakistan Test cricketers.
Pakistan's Quaid-e-Azam Trophy — their premier domestic four-day competition — produces results and statistics every season. Players make runs. Spinners take wickets. Batters average 40 in conditions designed for first-class cricket. And then those players arrive in Test cricket and average 28 against teams who have spent three or four more months per year playing red-ball cricket in challenging conditions.
The gap between what Pakistan's domestic cricket produces and what international Test cricket demands has been growing for a decade. The pitches are too flat. The attacks are not good enough to expose batting weaknesses before they become international problems. And the franchise T20 ecosystem — the PSL, the various international leagues that Pakistan's players now participate in — pulls the best talent toward white-ball cricket in ways that red-ball development simply cannot compete with financially.
Babar Azam just finished the PSL with 588 runs, averaging 84, winning the title as captain. We covered what Babar's PSL comeback meant — and it was genuinely extraordinary. But the same Babar Azam has averaged 32 in Tests in 2025-26 — a number that, from the best batter Pakistan has produced in a generation, tells you that the conversion from franchise confidence to Test consistency is not automatic. It requires sustained red-ball match practice that the current structure does not adequately provide.
What Happens Next — And Whether It Will Be Different
Pakistan host Australia in a three-match ODI series starting May 30. We previewed the series earlier this week — an Australia without Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood against a Pakistan team still processing another Test series defeat. White-ball cricket, for Pakistan, has been a different story — the T20 World Cup earlier this year showed flashes of the quality that exists in this squad. ODIs at home are a reset of sorts.
But the Test problem does not go away because white-ball cricket is being played. The World Test Championship cycle continues. Pakistan's next Test series — against New Zealand later in the year — will arrive with the same questions that have been there since 2024. Will the batting collapses have been addressed? Will the senior players have found a way to convert their fifties into hundreds? Will the bowling attack have found a way to dismiss lower-order batters when the match is on the line?
Shan Masood talked about structural changes after Sylhet. He has talked about root causes. He has said the right things, consistently and articulately, for eighteen months. The PCB has retained him — a decision that has logic behind it, because chopping and changing captains is precisely the instability that Hussain was warning about — but retention without structural change is just more of the same.
ESPNcricinfo said this might be the worst period for Pakistan Test cricket in their history. The 1960s. The late 2000s. Right now.
The people who love Pakistan cricket — and there are hundreds of millions of them — deserve better than another post-match press conference where the captain says the right things and the board stays quiet and nothing changes before the next series begins.
The root causes are not a mystery. They have been identified, named, and discussed at length. What Pakistan cricket needs in 2026 is not more analysis. It is the courage to actually fix what everyone already knows is broken.
Follow The Yorker Crew for Pakistan cricket coverage — including the Pakistan vs Australia ODI series starting May 30.
📌 Also Read:
- Australia Are Coming To Pakistan Without Their Best Players. Pakistan Have Just Lost A Test Series To Bangladesh. May 30 Cannot Come Soon Enough.
- 67 Innings. 2 Years of Criticism. One Night in Lahore That Changed Everything — Babar Azam Is Back.
- He Took Four Wickets. Then He Scored 56 Not Out. Aaron Hardie Just Won Peshawar Zalmi The PSL Title.
- Six Needed. One Over Left. Hunain Shah Had Other Plans. Hyderabad Kingsmen Are In The PSL Final.
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