By Nawaz Gohar ; For a few stark moments on Wednesday, the press box at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium became a silent metaphor for the state of Pakistan’s red-ball cricket. Sitting entirely alone in the media pavilion was Ejaz Wasim Bukhari, the solitary traveling Pakistani journalist who had flown in to cover the series.

Throughout the tour, Bukhari had been a fierce, unapologetic voice during post-match press conferences, routinely challenging the national team’s sliding standards. But on the morning of Day 5, the room emptied completely. The local Bangladeshi press corps rushed down to the boundary ropes to join their team’s historic series-clinching celebrations.

Left in the vacuum of an empty press box, Bukhari posted a poignant photograph of himself on social media, writing: “Sitting in the press box after Bangladesh’s 2-0 series win, watching a scene of absolute desolation. The Bangladeshi journalists are celebrating out on the field, while I am left staring at my laptop, checking the dates for Eid-ul-Adha.”

The drama shifted from the media room to the team hotel later that evening. According to a breaking report from Bukhari, Test captain Shan Masood returned to the team quarters and verbally confided in his teammates that he no longer wished to lead the side.

However, when other media outlets attempted to independently verify the claim, conflicting narratives emerged. Several domestic networks reported that Masood’s resignation was strictly a matter of “source-based speculation” with zero official confirmation from the camp. Conversely, other mainstream Pakistani sports desks vehemently claimed that the skipper had made no such statements regarding stepping down.

While the definitive decision over whether Masood yields or retains the captaincy now rests firmly with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the statistical reality of his tenure has become impossible to ignore.

The elegant left-hander’s extended stay at the top order has drawn fierce criticism from pundits, who point out an unsustainable gap between leadership responsibilities and raw output.

The data highlights a compounding issue: rather than rallying the team during high-pressure phases, the side’s tactical cohesion has consistently frayed under Masood’s watch. Across four innings against a disciplined Bangladeshi bowling unit, the skipper could manage only a single half-century—a fighting 71 in the final innings in Sylhet. Beyond that solitary contribution, he completely failed to anchor a fragile middle order.

Insiders note that if the PCB strips Masood of the captaincy, his very spot as a specialist batter in the starting XI is in immediate jeopardy due to his career average hovering at 30 after 12 years of international cricket.

When explicitly asked by journalists in the post-match press conference if this historic 2-0 sweep—marking four consecutive Test defeats against Bangladesh—would be his final assignment as skipper, Masood deflected sharply. “Right now, I only want to talk about this series,” Masood replied curtly.

With the dust settling on a catastrophic 0-2 series defeat, the corridors of Pakistan cricket have already shifted their gaze to the future. If a leadership change is enacted, two prominent names have emerged at the front of the queue to inherit the red-ball captaincy: all-rounder Salman Ali Agha and former skipper Babar Azam.