Four of the five England bowlers – especially their entire pace attack -had never played a first-class game in Pakistan before the recently concluded first Multan Test. But England, despite Ben Stokes’s absence, took 20 Pakistan wickets to win the match on the final morning on a flat and unresponsive pitch.

“When they came back with the ball they had a plan and they had a window of opportunity with the new ball and the cracks [on the pitch] open. The harsh reality is that no matter what the pitch is, the quality sides will find a way and learning for us is to find a way when we play Test cricket.”

Masood was also asked whether a psychological block prevented Pakistan batters from thriving in the second innings as well. He also played down the idea and, again, asked his bowlers to do better. “I wouldn’t say my team is weak mentally.

“Third innings in isolation can seem like a collapse and it can come across as everything has gone wrong. But, had we kept England thereabout our score, which I thought we did a good job with the bat in the first innings, then these 220 that we put on today could have been a difference and anything above 150 [as a target] on the final day on any kind of pitch requires proper chase,” he also added.

In the immediate aftermath of an innings and 47 runs defeat, the Pakistan Cricket Board also announced that there has been a “recomposition” of the selection committee with former international elite umpire Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, and Azhar Ali joining Asad Shafiq, Hasan Cheema, and the coach and the captain as well.