Karachi: Shan Masood, the captain of the national test team, on Monday said that he would try to perform better in the test series against England.

Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, he said that the result he wanted against Bangladesh didn’t deliver and that all the boys were saddened by the poor performance.

Masood further said that players would have to be given opportunities to succeed, adding Khurram Shahzad was an important part of the team but unfortunately he had been injured. “In Test cricket, you need regular matches to perform.”

The captain said that the team for the first test had been announced but, “we do not know the conditions in Multan, we will try to make a good start in the first test.”

Masood said that it never felt good when the team lost, especially Pakistan. “The series against Bangladesh and Australia did not start well. After playing against Australia, we saw a lot of positive things but we didn’t get to see those things as a result in the series against Bangladesh.”

“We have to learn from mistakes. Test cricket demands you to be strong physically and mentally. We have to improve these things as a team,” he said.

He said that there were no team cohesion issues against Bangladesh as he always tried to maintain a better atmosphere in the dressing room.

The skipper further said that Muhammad Rizwan was part of the permanent team but Sarfraz Ahmed was the best alternative in the short term. 

The captain of the Test team further said that Babar Azam was the number one and best batsman in the world, adding he (Shan) wanted to give full opportunity to the players.

 

The Minnesota Lynx collected multiple honors Sunday, as Napheesa Collier was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and Cheryl Reeve, who led the U.S. women’s national team to a gold medal at the Paris Olympics, was named both the league’s Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year.

The awards highlight a great run for the Lynx, the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs who host the Connecticut Sun on Sunday (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Game 1 of their semifinal matchup.

Collier, who finished second to Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson in the MVP race, received 36 votes from a national panel of 67 media members to win the award for the first time.

“I think it’s just having that overall aggression on both sides of the ball,” Collier said. “We always are saying defense leads the offense because it lets you get in transition and it lets you push the pace. It lets you get the other team on their heels, so we take a lot of pride in our defense and it’s something that obviously I’ve worked hard to improve because I know it’s what’s best for the team.”

Wilson, the league’s DPOY the past two seasons, was second with 26 votes. The Seattle Storm’s Ezi Magbegor was third with three votes, and the Sun’s DiJonai Carrington and Lynx’s Courtney Williams each got one vote.

Collier put together the greatest two-game stretch in WNBA playoffs history, scoring 80 points combined in a pair of wins over the Phoenix Mercury in the first round. The Lynx also led the WNBA by averaging 101.5 points through two games of the playoffs.

As great as she has been offensively, Collier was the leader of a defense that finished second in defensive rating and first in opponents’ effective field goal percentage. According to ESPN Research, Collier held opponents to 36.2% field goal shooting as the closest defender this season, the top mark in the league.

Collier ranked second in the WNBA in steals (1.91 per game), third in rebounds (9.7 per game) and seventh in blocks (1.41 per game), posting career-high averages in all three categories. She joins former Lynx standout Sylvia Fowles, a four-time winner, as the only franchise players to win the award.

“All I’m focusing on is making it to the next round and playing our next game,” Collier said Wednesday after tying a WNBA postseason record with 42 points in a win over the Mercury. “I think that stuff just comes from really great teammates. We had so many assists. I think all of my baskets were assisted. My teammates did a great job of finding me and just taking advantage of what the defense was giving us.”

Aces coach Becky Hammon said she thought Wilson deserved the award, and the team wore No. 22 Wilson jerseys to Sunday’s playoff game to show support.

“If you have to go down a rabbit hole of analytics to put somebody in the same conversation, I think you already have the answer to your question,” Hammon said Sunday.

Wilson led the WNBA in blocks (2.6 per game), was second in rebounds (11.9) and was tied for fourth in steals (1.8). She also was first in defensive win shares (3.8) and second to Collier in defensive rating.

Reeve, who set a record with her fourth WNBA Coach of the Year honor, didn’t skip a beat after leading the national team to a gold medal in Paris. She guided the Lynx to a 14-2 record after the Olympic break, the top mark in the WNBA. But her personnel decisions were as pivotal as her coaching.

In February, she signed free agents Williams and Alanna Smith, who both have been key players during this run. Williams finished sixth in assists this season, and Smith connected on 40% of her 3-point attempts, creating matchup problems for opposing teams as a 6-foot-4 threat from the perimeter who also averaged 1.5 blocks.

In August, Reeve traded for Myisha Hines-Allen, who has become a catalyst off the bench for the Lynx.

“I can’t tell you that we said, ‘Okay, if we sign Alanna Smith and that if we signed Courtney Williams, and if we trade for Natisha Hiedeman, and if we wait until the trade deadline to trade for [Allen], that’s all gonna fit perfectly.’ That’s just ridiculous. And it’s not true,” Reeve said Sunday.

“You work hard. You do the things that you think are the best path for your team. Sometimes you get lucky and you get lightning in a bottle, as they say. And that’s what this team is.”

Reeve joins Curt Miller as the only individuals to win the Coach of the Year and the Executive of the Year awards in the same season. Reeve got 62 of 67 votes for the coaching award, while the New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello, whose team is the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, received four votes. Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides, whose team reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016, received one vote.

The WNBA also released its All-Defensive team, with Collier, Wilson, Magbegor, Carrington and the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart being named to the first team. Minnesota’s Smith, Alyssa Thomas of Connecticut, Nneka Ogwumike of Seattle, Jonquel Jones of New York and Natasha Cloud of Phoenix were named to the second team.

ESPN’s Michael Voepel contributed to this report.

In a major achievement, India’s renowned cricketer Virat Kohli on Monday became the fastest batter to score 27,000 international runs during day four of the second Test against Bangladesh at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

He surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 27,000 runs in 623 innings. Kohli has currently played 594 innings in international cricket.

The other players who have crossed the 27,000-run mark include former Australian captain Ricky Ponting and Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara.

Fastest to score 27,000 runs

594 innings – Virat Kohli

623 innings – Sachin Tendulkar

648 innings – Kumar Sangakkara

650 innings – Ricky Ponting

Before the start of the match, Kohli had scored 8,871 Test runs in 114 matches at an average of 48.74. In ODIs he has scored 13,906 runs in 295 matches at 58.18. The batter also has 4,188 runs from 125 T20Is at 48.69.

Most runs in international cricket

34,357 runs – Sachin Tendulkar (782 innings)

28,016 runs – Kumar Sangakkara (666 innings)

27,483 runs – Ricky Ponting (668 innings)

27,012 runs – Virat Kohli in (594 innings)

25,957 runs – Mahela Jayawardene (725 innings)

With the national team set to take on England in the upcoming Test series, Pakistan’s red-ball captain Shan Masood on Monday stressed the need to back the players in order to move forward.

Speaking at a press conference, Masood said: “It’s easy to make changes after a loss, but if we want to move forward, we must back our players.”

His statement comes as the national side is set to take on England in a three-match Test series against England commencing on October 7 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.

The second match will also be played at the second venue whereas the third match is scheduled from October 24 to 28 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

The home series is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25.

Continuing on today, the red-ball captain said that the players were deeply regretful of the recent losses and are determined to achieve better results.

“We’ve learned a lot about our physical and mental condition, and it’s clear that improvements are needed,” he added.

Elaborating on his role as the team’s leader, Masood admitted that losing is always difficult and said: “As a captain, it feels terrible when the team loses. It wasn’t the ideal start, but accountability comes with defeat.”

He also pointed out that the team had several opportunities to gain the upper hand against Bangladesh but failed to take advantage of them.

“If Pakistan want to become a top Test side, we need to significantly improve both physical and mental fitness. Our conditioning should be on par with other top teams in the world,” the left-handed batter said while emphasising the importance of mental and physical fitness, particularly for Test cricket.

He also addressed the return of Aamir Jamal from injury, noting that the current Test squad was selected based on player fitness.

“For now, we’ve built the squad for one Test, considering the players’ fitness levels. Meanwhile, If required, Zahid Mahmood would be brought into the squad,” Masood explained.

Concluding his remarks, Masood acknowledged the pressure of professional sports but affirmed that no player enjoys losing.

It is to be noted that Mahmood will join the pre-test camp in Multan as the 16th player, but the final squad will be trimmed to 15 players for the first Test.