[EXCLUSIVE] "Shan Masood is a nice guy, but sometimes nice guys don't make good captains": David Lloyd

[BouncerGuy]

From his days as a player to his time in the commentary box, David 'Bumble' Lloyd has witnessed countless moments in Pakistan cricket.

In an exclusive interview with PakPassion, renowned broadcaster and former England cricketer David Lloyd discusses with Saj, Pakistan’s upcoming tour and shares his thoughts on Shan Masood’s leadership qualities.

Lloyd also reflects on his fond memories from previous tours to Pakistan, offering a unique perspective on the country’s cricketing culture and experiences.

The topics he discussed in this interview include:

Stability vs. Instability: Highlighted the significant difference in team dynamics, noting England’s structured and stable approach in stark contrast to Pakistan’s frequent turmoil and stressed the urgent need for the Pakistan team to find stability to compete effectively.

Captaincy Challenges: Pointed out Shan Masood’s relative inexperience and reactive style as potential hurdles for Pakistan and compared this to England’s Ben Stokes, suggesting that Masood’s leadership could be a critical factor in determining Pakistan’s competitiveness.

Jason Gillespie’s Role: Discussed how Gillespie’s focus on adaptability could be pivotal in countering England’s aggressive play style, potentially leveling the playing field.

Financial Considerations: Emphasized the importance of lucrative TV deals and sponsorships for elevating the profile of Test cricket in Pakistan and argued that attracting more fans and resources is crucial for the sport’s growth in the region.

Aggressive Play: Mentioned how aggressive approach has revolutionized England’s cricket, making them a formidable opponent, and advised that Pakistan must strategically prepare to counter this high-intensity play style.

Tourist Appeal: Highlighted the broader significance of the series, viewing it as an opportunity for England supporters to experience Pakistan’s rich culture and cricketing heritage.

Watch the full interview here:

 

[MenInG]

Seems time's up for Shan as far as the "nice" side of things is concerned. Pakistan needs results and even outsiders like Bumble can see that.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

I think Shan could see Babar's fate as a spoiler for his own self. England series is the last chance for the red ball captain.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

People who are saying England Series is Shan's last chance. Are missing the point, so if Pakistan gets lucky and causes an upset against England. Are we Stuck with Shan? for the next 5 years (Shan is 35 years old).

What about his batting can we afford to have a non performing batter in the side permanently. Pakistan test side does not have a genuine all rounder for a very long time (besides Wicket keeper batters which all teams nowadays have). Without a genuine allrounder (like Shakib ul Hasan, Ben Stokes etc) our tail gets exposed at only 6 wickets. So can we afford a batter that averages 28? It is like having a walking wicket in the top order.

Playing for Yorkshire is no reason that Shan should be an automatic selection for the Pakistan. English Counties are full of consistent performers who are not playing International Cricket, look at Mohd Abbas who is performing in counties like no other and is a far far better Bowler than Mohd Ali.

 

[Saj]

A lot of former players are shocked by Pakistan's slump these days.

Once unbeatable at home, now they are a bang average side even at home.

A terrible and sad decline that needs addressing now before it's too late.

 

[TheSultan]

always great to listen to Bumble’s views.

He’s right about Shan’s captaincy. But unfortunately I think most if not all of our potential captains are reactive and the reason for that is I can’t think of a single player in our squad or even fringe players who I can look at and say “he’s a smart cricketer that guy, he understands the game”. There no one with the tactical astuteness required to succeed in this era. The only one I can think of is Sarfraz, but naturally due to his age, we can’t go back to him.

And along with the other million things we need to work on, someone needs to teach these guys cricketing strategy, even if it is like a therapy session and talk to them about the game.

It is just shocking of how many simpletons are in our team.

 

[ads101]

Shan is proactive. He was proactive in Australia tour. The declaration against Bangladesh was a proactive one, I don’t think Babar or Misbah would have made that declaration. And it led to us losing the game, we would have drawn otherwise. Masood tries to vary the fielding placements and try different things more than Babar did. It’s just because he lost, we’re saying he’s not proactive. We chose to go with 4 pacer bowlers, extremely aggressive and out of the box strategy in Asia. And it didn’t benefit us. He is actually the exact opposite of Babar who isn’t proactive at all.

It’s just he’s not a good player, which doesn’t inspire leadership. I don’t think Shan is a nice guy. But is tough as captain telling your team mates what to do when they have more experience and better performances. How can he criticise others when he’s the worst one. He’s just a guy trying to cement his spot, despite the fact he’s older and captaining at the same time. If you have cemented your place through consistent performances you demand a level of respect which is different. He’s not even a noteworthy captain in domestic or U19 either in terms of trophies and name like Misbah, Malik, Sarfraz are, even if you ignore their international performances. The guy literally had to make way as soon as Rizwan joined the team for Multan. Even though he got them to a final.

If Masood suddenly performs, people will be signing his praises as captain. He’s got a lot of good qualities for it. But I don’t think he will actually perform. Hence he’ll never be a true leader of the Pakistan team.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

The declaration against Bangladesh wss arrogant with over 3 days left and they got battered.

Thinks he's Ben Stokes

Shan is proactive. He was proactive in Australia tour. The declaration against Bangladesh was a proactive one, I don’t think Babar or Misbah would have made that declaration. And it led to us losing the game, we would have drawn otherwise. Masood tries to vary the fielding placements and try different things more than Babar did. It’s just because he lost, we’re saying he’s not proactive. We chose to go with 4 pacer bowlers, extremely aggressive and out of the box strategy in Asia. And it didn’t benefit us. He is actually the exact opposite of Babar who isn’t proactive at all.

It’s just he’s not a good player, which doesn’t inspire leadership. I don’t think Shan is a nice guy. But is tough as captain telling your team mates what to do when they have more experience and better performances. How can he criticise others when he’s the worst one. He’s just a guy trying to cement his spot, despite the fact he’s older and captaining at the same time. If you have cemented your place through consistent performances you demand a level of respect which is different. He’s not even a noteworthy captain in domestic or U19 either in terms of trophies and name like Misbah, Malik, Sarfraz are, even if you ignore their international performances. The guy literally had to make way as soon as Rizwan joined the team for Multan. Even though he got them to a final.

If Masood suddenly performs, people will be signing his praises as captain. He’s got a lot of good qualities for it. But I don’t think he will actually perform. Hence he’ll never be a true leader of the Pakistan team.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Nice guys and good players both cannot be good captains. You need a born leader in a country like Pakistan like we had in sarfaraz.

Shan is a nice guy but he is not a nice batter and I am not sure if he is gonna be a nice captain anytime soon.

 

[pratiktc]

Crossed 2000 run mark and got his Test avg above 30.

This is beauty of sport. Two good sessions and Shan's career has gone from being toast to asbestos. He now has atleast a couple of series worth of rope.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Nice guys and good players both cannot be good captains. You need a born leader in a country like Pakistan like we had in sarfaraz.

Shan is a nice guy but he is not a nice batter and I am not sure if he is gonna be a nice captain anytime soon.

Sarfraz was hardly a born leader. He was an okay captain at best. I think Pakistan's recent captains have made people forget that he ended our streak in UAE after getting whitewashed by a sub-par Sri Lanka side. Lost a series to New Zealand too. Not to mention his constant screaming at bowlers behind the stumps and an inability to stay calm and cool.

 

[SpiritOf1903]

Sarfraz was hardly a born leader. He was an okay captain at best. I think Pakistan's recent captains have made people forget that he ended our streak in UAE after getting whitewashed by a sub-par Sri Lanka side. Lost a series to New Zealand too. Not to mention his constant screaming at bowlers behind the stumps and an inability to stay calm and cool.

Sarfraz is Cheetah compared to this pussycat

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Sarfraz is Cheetah compared to this pussycat

Everyone is a cheetah compared to the captain who got whitewashed by Bangladesh at home. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Sarfraz was a great captain.

 

[shaz619]

Sarfraz was hardly a born leader. He was an okay captain at best. I think Pakistan's recent captains have made people forget that he ended our streak in UAE after getting whitewashed by a sub-par Sri Lanka side. Lost a series to New Zealand too. Not to mention his constant screaming at bowlers behind the stumps and an inability to stay calm and cool.

I think during that period, and I was one of these people to; Pakistan fans were blinded by the fallacy created by Misbah. We were so proud of our unbeaten record in the UAE and Sarfraz being blamed for losing it. But in hindsight, it’s not so black and white. Sarfraz inherited a team which did not have a Saeed Ajmal, it did not have a Younis Khan and it not even have an Abdur Rehman, heck am not his fan anymore but Misbah himself was a solid Test batsman. I think Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz’s services in the UAE were valuable to on those lifeless pitches.

Sarfraz and Mickey were a new partnership and they got what was it, about 10 Test matches? it was criminal not to play a second spinner in the UAE, but they always had one eye on preparing for overseas tours which Pakistan had a pretty pathetic record in, and more than the second spinner, it was their inability to counter Herath against Lanka, there was no Younis Khan to bail them out.

In Pakistan you often become very stubborn, especially the management, coaches etc but Sarfraz and Mickey learned from that Lankan series by picking I think it was Bilal Asif for either the Australia or NZ series and had more success, again, the batting against NZ was shocking and am afraid the investment in both Azhar and Shafiq did not quiet pay off, especially with the latter when the chips were down.

But Sarfraz did manage to become among a few names to leave England with his dignity intact and he didn’t do it with the big names.

Sarfraz did slack a little bit with his fitness/motivations at times and he got Marvin Haglered after winning the CT, to quote the legend, it’s difficult to get out of bed to do road work when your wrapped in silk sheets; but he was a great man manager who the players wanted to play for despite his behaviour in later years, they were proud to play under him for the most part and he/Mickey were progressive; I think he was prematurely sacked, because you went from him to friggin Azhar Ali.

 

[topspin]

I think during that period, and I was one of these people to; Pakistan fans were blinded by the fallacy created by Misbah. We were so proud of our unbeaten record in the UAE and Sarfraz being blamed for losing it. But in hindsight, it’s not so black and white. Sarfraz inherited a team which did not have a Saeed Ajmal, it did not have a Younis Khan and it not even have an Abdur Rehman, heck am not his fan anymore but Misbah himself was a solid Test batsman. I think Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz’s services in the UAE were valuable to on those lifeless pitches.

Sarfraz and Mickey were a new partnership and they got what was it, about 10 Test matches? it was criminal not to play a second spinner in the UAE, but they always had one eye on preparing for overseas tours which Pakistan had a pretty pathetic record in, and more than the second spinner, it was their inability to counter Herath against Lanka, there was no Younis Khan to bail them out.

In Pakistan you often become very stubborn, especially the management, coaches etc but Sarfraz and Mickey learned from that Lankan series by picking I think it was Bilal Asif for either the Australia or NZ series and had more success, again, the batting against NZ was shocking and am afraid the investment in both Azhar and Shafiq did not quiet pay off, especially with the latter when the chips were down.

But Sarfraz did manage to become among a few names to leave England with his dignity intact and he didn’t do it with the big names.

Sarfraz did slack a little bit with his fitness/motivations at times and he got Marvin Haglered after winning the CT, to quote the legend, it’s difficult to get out of bed to do road work when your wrapped in silk sheets; but he was a great man manager who the players wanted to play for despite his behaviour in later years, they were proud to play under him for the most part and he/Mickey were progressive; I think he was prematurely sacked, because you went from him to friggin Azhar Ali.

Bang on. This is exactly what I’ve been saying about Misbah and the transition to Sarfraz. People judge the latter but fail to account for the fact that the team had lost an ATG player of spin, chucking services of Ajmal and other good players like Yasir Shah and Abdur Rehman.

There was nothing going for Misbah as captain of the side. Two of his innings tell you everything about his loser mentality:

• 2007 WT20 final: choked against a policeman, Joginder Sharma
• 2011 WC semi-final: produced a horror show because he was playing for his place in the side during the World Cup semi-final

A weak mind like his was never going to breed success.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

This thread is not about Misbah or Sarfaraz to discuss, plz stick to the topic or bump relevant thread!

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

I think during that period, and I was one of these people to; Pakistan fans were blinded by the fallacy created by Misbah. We were so proud of our unbeaten record in the UAE and Sarfraz being blamed for losing it. But in hindsight, it’s not so black and white. Sarfraz inherited a team which did not have a Saeed Ajmal, it did not have a Younis Khan and it not even have an Abdur Rehman, heck am not his fan anymore but Misbah himself was a solid Test batsman. I think Umar Gul and Wahab Riaz’s services in the UAE were valuable to on those lifeless pitches.

Sarfraz and Mickey were a new partnership and they got what was it, about 10 Test matches? it was criminal not to play a second spinner in the UAE, but they always had one eye on preparing for overseas tours which Pakistan had a pretty pathetic record in, and more than the second spinner, it was their inability to counter Herath against Lanka, there was no Younis Khan to bail them out.

In Pakistan you often become very stubborn, especially the management, coaches etc but Sarfraz and Mickey learned from that Lankan series by picking I think it was Bilal Asif for either the Australia or NZ series and had more success, again, the batting against NZ was shocking and am afraid the investment in both Azhar and Shafiq did not quiet pay off, especially with the latter when the chips were down.

But Sarfraz did manage to become among a few names to leave England with his dignity intact and he didn’t do it with the big names.

Sarfraz did slack a little bit with his fitness/motivations at times and he got Marvin Haglered after winning the CT, to quote the legend, it’s difficult to get out of bed to do road work when your wrapped in silk sheets; but he was a great man manager who the players wanted to play for despite his behaviour in later years, they were proud to play under him for the most part and he/Mickey were progressive; I think he was prematurely sacked, because you went from him to friggin Azhar Ali.

There's no denying that the team wasn't as good. But that still doesn't absolve Sarfraz of his blunders. His batting during this period also took a major slide. He averaged just 25 with the bat as captain. You could make the case that the Sri Lanka series was lost purely on selection blunders and a team trying to find its feet. But Sarfraz's captaincy got exposed numerous times after that too. Case in point: the 2018 Abu Dhabi test against Australia where his lack of usage of Abbas on the final day turned a surefire win for us into a great escape for Australia. But losing a series to a New Zealand attack that featured Will Somerville was especially embarrassing. And even in that series he let the game slip from Pakistan's hands numerous times as mediocre players like Henry Nicholls made merry. Sarfraz for me always lacked the ability to control the game in UAE like Misbah did. People forget that Misbah annihilated Australia with Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar: one bowler who was playing his first test series and another 37 year old domestic journeyman who had only played a handful of tests. Ajmal's career was pretty much over after 2014. Umar Gul also played his last test in 2013. Pakistan kept winning in UAE till 2016. Alot of the time it was innocuous bowlers like Rahat Ali, Tanvir Ahmed, Imran Khan Jr. who were used better because Misbah understood the conditions and what was necessary to win.

There's no denying that the batting during Sarfraz's era paled in comparison to MisYou era. Especially with Azhar and Asad failing to step up. But I think as captain you have to lead from the front and when you're averaging 25 with the bat, you are part of the problem. Pakistan still had Haris Sohail, Babar (who was starting to come into his own as a test batter), Hafeez who was a UAE bully. Not to mention the bowling: Yasir Shah, who was still excellent in UAE. And arguably an even better pace attack than Misbah ever had with the likes of Abbas and Hasan Ali.

 

[shaz619]

There's no denying that the team wasn't as good. But that still doesn't absolve Sarfraz of his blunders. His batting during this period also took a major slide. He averaged just 25 with the bat as captain. You could make the case that the Sri Lanka series was lost purely on selection blunders and a team trying to find its feet. But Sarfraz's captaincy got exposed numerous times after that too. Case in point: the 2018 Abu Dhabi test against Australia where his lack of usage of Abbas on the final day turned a surefire win for us into a great escape for Australia. But losing a series to a New Zealand attack that featured Will Somerville was especially embarrassing. And even in that series he let the game slip from Pakistan's hands numerous times as mediocre players like Henry Nicholls made merry. Sarfraz for me always lacked the ability to control the game in UAE like Misbah did. People forget that Misbah annihilated Australia with Yasir Shah and Zulfiqar Babar: one bowler who was playing his first test series and another 37 year old domestic journeyman who had only played a handful of tests. Ajmal's career was pretty much over after 2014. Umar Gul also played his last test in 2013. Pakistan kept winning in UAE till 2016. Alot of the time it was innocuous bowlers like Rahat Ali, Tanvir Ahmed, Imran Khan Jr. who were used better because Misbah understood the conditions and what was necessary to win.

There's no denying that the batting during Sarfraz's era paled in comparison to MisYou era. Especially with Azhar and Asad failing to step up. But I think as captain you have to lead from the front and when you're averaging 25 with the bat, you are part of the problem. Pakistan still had Haris Sohail, Babar (who was starting to come into his own as a test batter), Hafeez who was a UAE bully. Not to mention the bowling: Yasir Shah, who was still excellent in UAE. And arguably an even better pace attack than Misbah ever had with the likes of Abbas and Hasan Ali.

The longer Abbas bowls the less effective he becomes and both he/Ali lacked zip on those pitches. You can hardly blame the captain for going with spin in the 4th innings in Dubai against Australia, having said that, Abbas was most effective under Sarfraz then any other captain, he had put in enough work in that match and at his pace/age, he ran out of steam. Misbah lost to NZ as well, Mark Craig had a 10fer I think. Zulfiqar Babar was a quality spinner and peak Yasir Shah is arguably the best modern Test leg spinner and one of Pakistan’s greatest match winners. Umar Gul provided his services to Misbah for as many games as Sarftaz got as captain, he with Wahab Riaz were exceptional on dead tracks, and I haven’t mentioned how useful Abdur Rehman was and there was Junaid Khan there to. Misbah very seldom dominated teams like India did in their ‘home’ conditions, it took an astronomical batting performance from Younis Khan who helped him achieve that against Australia so am not sure if he was a master in UAE conditions with such great resources at his disposal including peak Sarfraz himself, and on top of that, he didn’t have the same success in the limited form in the UAE. The best ever captains were great across all forms so am not sure he was a legendary leader.

Pakistan’s batting was just utterly woeful during that time, though I do accept that perhaps you’d have wanted a bit more from his batting. But is an average of 25 really terrible in terms of a sackable offence after 10 odd matches or so, Sarfraz had to captain, keep and carry the batting line-up, it was a tough task during those early games, the expectations were very high to after he won the CT and he has very respectable credentials as a leader. Misbah I do give credit he did bat well, but when he was made captain the man was given such a long rope and he came in during a period when his job was secure and the pressure was less on him after the spot-fixing saga, Pakistan were right at the bottom and the only way was up, it’s a bit like those tailenders who come out swinging when there’s nothing more to lose, and my god Misbah was one of the best Test tailender type batsman ever I don’t mean that as an insult to him btw.

Anyway I just that Sarfraz is easy to scapegoat after a very brief run, since his stint as captain, Pakistan have stooped much lower during the reigns of Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and now Shan Masood; people are glorifying this guy for his 150 but you can’t live down losing to Bangladesh in a Test series, Misbah lost to Zimbabwe as well; all these blokes still kept their jobs for some truly shocking defeats so I think Sarfraz and Mickey were prematurely fired during a period when they deserved as much if not more faith then the people who lost to Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and started an unbeaten losing record in home Pakistan games.

 

[shaz619]

Bumble is spot on as usual, very very nice fella, thank you Mr. Masood, for your kindness towards Mr. Atkinson @Rana @mominsaigol

 

[Saj]

The reality is that if Pakistan lose 3-0 to England then it would take a miracle for Shan to retain the captaincy.

 

[Bewal Express]

He may be a nice guy but when a team scores 550 and still loses by an innings- you need to be sacked. The loss to Aus is normal for us and he captained OK but the loss to BD at home and then this should be the end.

 

[shaz619]

He may be a nice guy but when a team scores 550 and still loses by an innings- you need to be sacked. The loss to Aus is normal for us and he captained OK but the loss to BD at home and then this should be the end.

I think if you’re drawing a line in the sand on this, losing to Bangladesh in a Test series at home is unforgivable; it’s in the punishable .Shan will be given every chance to succeed and he will keep falling to new lows.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

The reality is that if Pakistan lose 3-0 to England then it would take a miracle for Shan to retain the captaincy.

You're forgetting that Pakistan is the land of miracles... just that these days it seems to be the wrong kind of miracles.