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PAK Vs SL: Shan Masood Hails Test Cricket's Return To Pakistan As Team's Biggest Achievement

Pakistan bringing 🥃Test cricket home after a 10-year absence is the team's bigges♋t achievement, according to Shan Masood

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PAK Vs SL: Shan Masood Hails Test Cricket's Return To Pakistan As Team's Biggest Achievement
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Shan Masood is relishing playing on home turf as Pakistan prepare to host their first Test match in over a decade. (More Cricket Team)

Pakistಌan welcome Sri Lanka to Rawalpindi on Thursday for the first of two Tests to rou🔜nd off 2019.

It is the first time a Test will be played in Pakistan since t꧑he Sri Lanka team bus was attacked in Lahore in early 2009, with six policemen and two civilians killed.

Pakistan head into the series on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Australia, but Masood believes a return home has buoyed t🌺he entire squad, with every player eager to perform at their bꦯest in what he says is a momentous moment for the country.

"If you look at the best players in Test cricket, their home records are superior to away records,ꦿ" batsman Masood said.

"You are more familiar with the atmosphere, the pitches, and enjoy crowd support, and that was one thing that was missing from Pakist𓆉an cricket.

"Bringing Test cricket here is our biggest🍎 accomplishment. Test cricket as a whole suffered around the world, and in Pakistan, we've dedicated more to white-ball cricket. This is an opportunity for children in Pakistan to have a proper look at Test cricket.

"They'll look at peopꦗle like Azhar Ali, who scored a 300 and a doub💞le-century in Australia. They'll look at Asad Shafiq, who has scored hundreds all around the world.

"We've got exciting pacers like Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi. We've got Mohammad Abbas, who has been ranked number one in the world, and Yasir Shah, who has been the number one spinner in the world. Babar Azam is climbing up the Tes෴t rankings as well.

"This is a chance for our young generation to finally watch their heroes and it was unfortunate that legends like🌸 Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan couldn't play in their home grou🎃nds in the peak of their careers.

"So I'm really excited, because I feel this will propel Pakistan as a ꩵgeneration and the future generations o๊f this country to take up cricket. It's almost going to be like everyone is making their debuts, because we're all playing in Pakistan for the first time."

The omens are good for Pakistan, with Sri Lanka having won just one of their last five Test ser🐲ies against them, though they did wꦛin 2-0 in their last encounter in 2017.

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