National team Test captain Shan Masood has equaled former captain and legend player Imran Khan’s 40-year-old record of two consecutive fifties against Australia in both innings of a Test match.
Masood created the record by scoring half-centuries in two consecutive innings in Australia, scoring 54 runs in the first one and 60 runs in the second one of the second Test match against Australia.
His performance in both innings marked a milestone, making him the first Pakistani captain since Imran Khan to score half-centuries in both innings of a Test match in Australia.
In 1983, Imran Khan scored 83 and then an unbeaten 72 runs. In 1964, Hanif Muhammad scored 104 and 93 runs in a single test match against Australia.
Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise Karachi Kings has appointed national test team captain Shan Masood as the captain of their franchise.
Talking during an event in Lahore on Wednesday, Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal said, “Shaan Masood will be the captain of the Karachi team. I think Shaan is a good leader. I request the Karachi fans to come to the stadium and support the team this year. They will try to win more matches and try to pick good players in the draft.”
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has upgraded the central contract of national Test team captain Shan Masood.
The board has decided as part of its policy that if any player on a central contract who is below the A or B category becomes captain, his contract will be shifted to the B category till he captains. doing. As per PCB policy, Shan Masood has been upgraded from D to B category after upgrading the central contract.
The 34-year-old Shan Masood was appointed the captain of the Pakistan Test team on November 15 and has been made the captain till the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship 2023-25.
Pakistan Test team captain Shan Masood has said that former captain Babar Azam, is an excellent batsman and the team’s batting leader, stressing that, “No one will challenge his batting position,” as the team readies for departure to Australia.
While addressing a press conference in Lahore, Shan Masood said, “The Australian series is a challenge for all of us, the World Test Championship has started, and we are off to a good start and will try to play the final.”
Regarding his return to the team, Shan Masood said, “I was dropped after the tour of New Zealand, It took me time to come back. I am back after a year and a half but I tried to contribute whenever I got a chance.”
He said, “Playing for Pakistan is a big thing, captaining is even bigger but captaincy is a temporary thing, we should try to play well by showing responsibility, and we will try to perform well in Australia. Our team is not a brand-new team, it’s a balanced team.”
Stating that Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafiq are playing well together, Masood said he plays at number three domestically. Talking about Saim Ayub, the captain said he is a talented youngster, his batting approach is excellent.
The captain of the national team said. “We will take responsibility for the results, and we will improve what is not going well, there is criticism but we will definitely see constructive criticism.”
Shan Masood said, “Captaining Multan Sultans in the presence of Andy Flower was the turning point for me and captaining Derbyshire also gave me a lot of experience.”
On the question about Babar Azam, the captain of the national team said “The relationship with Babar Azam has always been good, we have been playing together for a long time, me and Babar have a very good understanding, Babar Azam is our batting leader.
“Sarfraz Ahmed has been a successful captain, I have played a lot of cricket with Sarfaraz Ahmed and it is very good to have him in the team. The combination will be decided according to the conditions there.”
Shaan Masood said, “Not having Naseem Shah is a big loss for us, I wish that Haris Rauf would also be a part of the team with us but he is not available.”
Pakistan’s former captain Babar Azam resigned as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team from all three formats (ODI Test & T20) on November 15.
His resignation followed heavy criticism from fans and former cricketers after Pakistan’s poor performance in the ODI World Cup 2023. The team was not successful in reaching the semi-finals, ending their World Cup journey at the fifth spot.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced Shan Masood as the Test Captain while left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi became the T20 captain.
The decision to make Shaheen captain of the T20s has been accepted more easily by the general public after he proved himself a competitive captain in the last two seasons of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). His team, Lahore Qalanders, had the unenviable record of being eliminated every time in the group stage in earlier seasons. However, under Afridi, they won two trophies.
Now the question arises as to why Shan Masood was picked captain in the Test format.
Fans believe there were better options in the team like wicketkeeper-batsman Muhammad Rizwan and Sarfraz Ahmed, who led Pakistan to the Champions Trophy under the captaincy in 2017. The team won 11 consecutive T20 series under his captaincy.
Muhammad Rizwan is also a consistent player in all formats, with a better average and strike rate than Shan’s in all three formats.
Here is the all-time performance of Rizwan, Sarfraz, and Shan in test format (International).
Here is all time performance of these three players in all formats (International).
Shan Masood
Muhammad Rizwan
Sarfraz Ahmed
If the PCB must choose a captain on the player’s performance, then Rizwan must be the captain instead of Shan. But if they are picking a captain because he can speak good English or whatever, then our cricket will never improve, analysts and fans gave said.
In the past, every time Pakistan lost in any tournament, captains, coaches, and selectors were changed without a positive outcome.
Pakistan is set to play a three-match test series against Australia starting from December 14.
The new chief selector Wahab Riaz picked Imam-ul-Haq in the batting lineup despite the batter totally failing during the Asia Cup and World Cup 2023 campaign, while he didn’t select Sahib Zada Farhan by saying that “no place is left in the team”, effectively sidelining a very good right-handed batsman.
They also didn’t pick Muhammad Abbas who took 90 wickets in 25 test matches.
The need of the hour is the selection of captain, coach, or selector, should be on merit, otherwise, we cannot change our system.
As wedding season kicks into high gear, it seems every eligible member of the Pakistani cricket team will get hitched this winters. Girlies, where do our broken hearts go?
After Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf, now Shan Masood is set to get married. According to reports, the cricket player is going to marry Meeshay Khan in Peshawar while their valima ceremony will be held in Karachi.
Other members of the cricket team are expected to attend the wedding.
When news of the upcoming wedding hit social media, the girls had to cry their hearts out.
During a practice session for the T20 World Cup in Australia, Pakistani batsman Shan Masood hit his head, following which he was reportedly taken for scans.
A shot from his fellow team member Mohammad Nawaz struck Masood on the head and left him lying flat on the ground.
In the picture posted on social media, it can be seen that Pakistani players and team staff surround Masood after the ball hit him on the head.
The team’s Vice Captain Shadab Khan told reporters that he passed the tests taken by the physio. He has gone to the hospital for scans. Shadab hoped that Masood will stay fully fit.
The 33-year-old batsman is regarded as a technically sound top-order batsman and has hit two half-centuries for Pakistan in 12 T20s since his debut in September.
On Sunday, Pakistan will face its arch-rivals India in Melbourne.
The Asian Cricket Council (ACC) announced last month that the Asia Cup 2022 will be held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from August 27 to September 11. However, Sri Lanka will still officially have hosting rights. The Asia Cup, which was last played in 2018, will be played in the T20 format, with nine teams participating.
Shoaib Malik and Shan Masood are not part of Pakistan’s batting squad while fast bowler Naseem Shah has replaced Hasan Ali.
Shoaib Malik is Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in Asia Cup. He has scored 907 runs in 21 matches with an average of 64.78.
Shoaib Malik was part of the T20 World Cup 2021 and scored 101 runs in the tournament with a match-winning knock of 54 on 18 balls against Scotland.
“It’s been 25 years but Pakistan has not found a replacement for Shoaib Malik,” said former Pakistani cricketer Aaqib Javed said in an interview.
Pakistan have dropped Shoaib Malik for the T20I Asia Cup 2022. Malik is the greatest middle-order batsman in T20I history, an under-rated bowler, and a spectacular fielder; guided many young Pakistan cricketers with his invaluable experience. Absolute legend, @realshoaibmalik.
What else Shan Masood needs to do to get selectors’ attention? He has consistently ticked all the boxes to get selected, but selectors consistently doing injustice to him. #InjusticetoShan
Shoaib Malik should have been included in Pak Squad for Asia Cup Pakistan’s middle order is incomplete without him we can’t rely on Asif Ali and Khushdil Shah we need senior pro like Malik who can play according to the situation and hit biggies when required #AsiaCup2022pic.twitter.com/ty5D75kp9t
Who said Shan Masood will be given a chance in the Netherlands tour??? WRONG! Shan’s form doesn’t mean anything to selectors, especially Mohammad Waseem..!
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup 2022: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
The defending champions Multan Sultans saw their triumphant beginning snapped by the dominant Lahore Qalandars at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Friday.
A 52-run victory for Shaheen Shah Afridi’s men, playing their first game in front of their home crowd, not only underlined the Qalandars’ Pakistan Super League (PSL) title credentials but also showed why they have the most dangerous bowling attack as they defended 182.
Sultans’ big-hitters Tim David and Rilee Rossouw were unable to perform. Captain Mohammad Rizwan couldn’t find his strokes. Shan Masood never got going. In fact, no one got going for the Sultans as they were bundled out for 130.
Qalandars’ Fakhar Zaman had set the platform for a big total and Qalandars reached it thanks to a 60-run partnership between Hafeez (43) and Phil Salt (26 not out) in the last five overs.
Zaman bagged Player of the match for his blistering 37-ball 60 runs.
Fakhar Zaman is also the highest scorer of the PSL’s seventh edition. He is standing on top with 416 runs while Multan’s Shan Masood and captain Rizwan are following him with 351 and 269 runs, respectively.
Talking in the post-match presentation ceremony, Fakhar said: “I am trying to bat ball to ball and play a long innings. If I get through the initial phase, I aim to bat for at least 10 overs and build from there.”
Talking about the difference in the pitch, he added: “The pitches in Karachi were more conducive for batting, here in Lahore one needs to spend more time and adapt to the conditions. This is a huge win for us as we strongly felt we could beat Multan, it was an incredible atmosphere and we always enjoy playing in front of the Lahore crowd. I am sure once we have 100 % crowds, the atmosphere would be even better.”
Meanwhile, despite the loss, Sultans retains the top position on the points table with 12 points from seven games, Qalandars have now surged to the second spot with eight points (four wins) in six games.
Wisden, on Tuesday, unveiled its ‘Test Team of the Year’ for 2020 and the list which features the best performers in Test cricket between December 11, 2019, and December 11, 2020, included Shan Masood and Babar Azam.
Shaan made it to the list with 419 runs in 6 matches at an average of 46.55 with a high score of 156 against England.
“England began exceptionally before lunch on day one, and Masood rode it out. Then, even as the home bowlers erred, he couldn’t quite cash in. But on day two, as Pakistan slid to 176-5, he came into his own, slowly opening his shoulders as his batting partners dwindled. Having struggled against England previously – his 156 was more than he managed in four previous Tests against them combined – Masood’s should have been a match-winning knock, but Chris Woakes and Jos Buttler had other ideas,” said Wisden about Masood.
Azam also made it to the list with 600 runs in 6 matches at an average of 100 with a high score of 143 against Bangladesh.
Writing about Azam, Wisden said: “All told, that’s not a bad average. Babar Azam made sure the return of Test cricket was a joyous, triumphant one, and it was fitting that he, a player who had already inspired such hope in the country, should provide even more. That he’ll be disappointed with his exploits in England, despite averaging just under 50, shows how high his standards now are. The most important of Babar’s knocks in terms of the match situation. Having come in at 93-2, he breezed past a century in quick time, setting up a match-winning lead.”
