| Date: 14-18 December Time: 02:20 GMT Venue: Perth Stadium |
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Ahsan Iftikhar Nagi is previously the media supervisor for the Pakistan males’s nationwide crew and is at present working for Multan Sultans. Beforehand he wrote for publications together with Daybreak and Cricbuzz. Right here he seems on the challenges going through Pakistan’s new Take a look at captain, Shan Masood.
Shan Masood’s appointment as the brand new Pakistan Take a look at captain ended weeks of commotion.
It was definitely not how a participant desires to be handed the reins: the build-up laced with drama that solely the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is able to scripting.
All of it started with a press launch that threw incumbent captain Babar Azam and Inzamam-ul-Haq, the then chief selector, underneath the bus after a historic World Cup defeat by Afghanistan in Chennai.
Then got here 15 November – the day the PCB put out three press releases in lower than an hour to announce Azam had stepped down voluntarily, Shan Masood and Shaheen Afridi had been the brand new Take a look at and T20 captains, and Mohammad Hafeez had changed Mickey Arthur as crew director.
All through that interval there have been recriminations for different PCB officers too, following Pakistan’s poor exhibiting on the World Cup in India.
A 3-Take a look at tour of Australia is subsequent for Pakistan, and all with a brand new chief.
Common Masood a ‘excellent tactician’
Masood is broadly considered one of the vital astute cricketers within the present Pakistan set-up.
His health ranges and work ethic are exemplary, and he’s thought of one of many nicest individuals to be round.
Nevertheless, regardless of making his Take a look at debut a little bit over a decade in the past, Masood has struggled to grow to be a everlasting fixture within the Take a look at aspect – solely doing so final winter within the sequence in opposition to England.
His 30 Assessments up to now have seen him accumulate 1,597 runs at a meagre common of 28.51.
These numbers don’t make for a powerful studying in a rustic the place the captain stays underneath intense scrutiny for his personal returns relatively than the crew outcomes.
Babar, regardless of not being generally known as an astute captain, was handed the reins of Pakistan’s limited-overs sides in 2019 after which the Take a look at aspect in 2020 primarily based on his prolific batting.
There was additionally hope that the funding within the younger cricketer, as Babar was in mid-20s, would repay and Pakistan would lastly have a long-term captain.
Now, three years on, Pakistan have a captain who is sort of a decade older than his predecessor on the time of his appointment.
Such was the swift promotion, Masood has been elevated to Band B within the PCB’s central contract checklist, having beforehand been within the backside bracket (Band D).
He, nevertheless, involves the job with noteworthy expertise. Masood has captained in 33 first-class matches and received 17 of them. Solely 5 of the remaining 16 have resulted in defeats.
“I consider there are two roles for a captain,” says Mickey Arthur, who as head of cricket at Derbyshire signed Masood final summer season.
“One is making the choices on the sector and the opposite is off the sector, which incorporates giving whole readability to the gamers – when it comes to the roles, what you need, and dealing hand in hand with the coach to ensure the setting is structured.
“I actually assume Masood is able to main Pakistan’s Take a look at aspect. He understands cricket and he will likely be a really, excellent tactician.”
Why Masood bucks the development
Masood started his first-class captaincy profession in 2015 on the United Financial institution Restricted. That call was primarily based on creating the batter’s management skills and noticed him work in tandem with Pakistan Take a look at legend Younis Khan.
“He [Masood] was a task mannequin for the crew,” explains Nadeem Khan, who then served as head of cricket at UBL and is the present PCB director of home cricket and academies.
“He used to take care of gamers round him and had excellent relationships together with his colleagues. He put the pursuits of others earlier than his.”
The Pakistan dressing room, nevertheless, is accustomed to being led by its finest batter.
Masood’s final Take a look at century was approach again in August 2020 and he has been averaging a paltry 15.75 in 16 innings since.
| Title (years captained) | Take a look at batting common |
| Misbah-ul-Haq (2010-2017) | 46.62 |
| Azhar Ali (2016-2020) | 42.26 |
| Sarfaraz Ahmed (2017-2019) | 38.27 |
| Babar Azam (2020-2023) | 47.74 |
| Shan Masood (2023-) | 28.51 |
| * minimal 9 Assessments |
Australia, nevertheless, generally is a good place to begin.
On Pakistan’s final Take a look at tour of Australia in 2019-20, which comprised two matches, Masood was one of many 5 batters to cross the 50-run mark in one of many 4 innings and his common of 39 down underneath is the perfect behind Mohammad Rizwan’s 44.25 among the many present squad.
Since his return to the enjoying XI, Masood has tailored to a extra attacking type of batting.
He turned the poster boy of the earlier Pakistan crew administration’s philosophy of scoring at greater charges that they named ‘The Pakistan Method’.
Within the final 5 Assessments, courting again to December 2022, Masood’s scoring fee has shot up by nearly 30 to 77.93, in comparison with his profession strike-rate of 48.03.
There’s not the burden of expectation both.
Solely three Pakistan captains have received a Take a look at in Australia and they’re at present on a 14-match shedding streak that dates again to 1999.
Masood is out to interrupt that drought. Now the post-World Cup commotion and upheaval is over, after all.