[PICTURES/VIDEOS] Shan Masood as Pakistan Test captain performance watch

Why didn't Shan bowl more overs with Khurram Shahzad? He only bowled 3 overs in the 1st session. That was no brainer

Poor captaincy from Shan today. Over bowled Shaheen when he was trundling and getting hit. Took a long while to bring Jamal into the attack.
 
Even under-bowled khurram as well. just 3 overs in a session from one of your main bowler is not a good captaincy
 
Poor captaincy from Shan today. Over bowled Shaheen when he was trundling and getting hit. Took a long while to bring Jamal into the attack.
I like shan but a non performing captain doesn't do it for me.
 
With Shan you will get a thinking captain

Someone who can probably read articles/books and make something out of it.
True. He seems good at applying concepts and is practical about it. Pragmatic with the limited resources he has.

If only we had naseem and sameen fit. Not sure what the problem is for not selecting sameen gul.
 
Shan was playing so well before he made a mistake of poking his bat at a pretty wide delivery by Starc. He is gone after scoring 30 off 43 balls.

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He was playing nicely before he played that false shot. Starc made him play that shot so it was all Starc's credit. Shan did nothing wrong before that 1 shot. Number 6 position is not for him, he never played there. Either he opens or bats 1 down.
 
He was playing nicely before he played that false shot. Starc made him play that shot so it was all Starc's credit. Shan did nothing wrong before that 1 shot. Number 6 position is not for him, he never played there. Either he opens or bats 1 down.

He has a 28 average. He is not a top order batter in international cricket at the moment. He needs to prove himself lower down the order.
 
This is a no-brainer after lunch. Extras and then a lot of boundaries are being scored freely. Shan should devise a plan here or else it will become more painful over time.
 
How would you rate Shan Masood's captaincy during the second innings ?
Missed most of it.
 
Dropped catch and then this horrific shot.

Shan's captaincy under scanner - honeymoon period will end very shortly.
 
Clear fault in the technique of Shan. He played the ball in front of his body while Babar is meeting the ball right under his eyes. I wonder what the coaches are doing.

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This will all end in disaster

After the tour captain and the new appointees in the board will be sacked.

Inept, incompetent , corrupt the whole system is a shambles .
 
It was a dark day in Pakistan cricket when this charlatan was appointed captain.

He is an Imran Farhat with better PR nothing more
 
How did this guy become captain!?

I must have missed it.
 
Mohammad Rizwan was and is the rightful captain of Pakistan.

It was pressure from idiots screaming dosti yaari which is why the best successor to Babar was sidelined for the wrong player.

Pakistan fans aren’t very intelligent and we shot ourselves in the foot as usual.
 
Always was and always will be rubbish. The worst batsman to ever play for Pakistan.
 
The worst Test batsman in Pakistan’s history is the Pakistan Test captain.

Just Pakistan things.
 
Khuda ke liye get your act together! Sick and tired of having no option and reverting back to people that misuse the entire system like Babar did!
 
Passenger captain, his 2nd inns dismissal summed up what a fraud of a so called cricketer he is
 
Either open or bat at 5.

No business opening up the gates like this at number 3.
 
Not a big issue you can replace him with who ever you like the result will still be the same

Even the world's best batsmen babar azam has failed in this test he's been on par with shan masood
 
@topspin

Masood is absolutely not the right option for captaincy in the short-term. That is an absolutely ridiculous statement.

Masood is utter rubbish. He is the worst top-order batsman to ever play for Pakistan cricket and I can back that with numbers.

IMG_4927.jpeg

Imam is no Alaistair Cook, but he is still better than Masood. Drop Imam if you want but at least come up with proper alternatives not players who don’t exist or only do in the fantasies of the fans.

You can’t ask for Imam to get chucked out of the team when you have appointed your worst ever batsman as captain.

Imam:

Age 28
Tests 23
Average 38

Masood:

Age 34
Tests 30
Average 28

It is absolute bonkers to argue that Masood deserves to play ahead of Imam.

Imam can be Masood’s replacement. Go ahead and find a replacement for Masood.

Don’t give me this nonsense that Masood is better off the back foot. He is not capable off either foot. A complete failure of a batsman who gets out in every possible way.

That is the biggest indication of his mediocrity. He is weak against everything due to which there is no pattern to his dismissals. He is not good at anything.

Imam is clearly bad against short bowling but other than that he is not bad at all for our standards and choosing between him and Masood is not a tough choice to make.
 
The worst Test batsman in Pakistan’s history is the Pakistan Test captain.

Just Pakistan things.
Kamran Akmal was the worst batsman. And don’t say he’s a keeper because he was dropping catches like no tomorrow and was only in the team for his batting.

Shan is not great but not our worst. And let’s not even get into the other parts like fitness, behaviour etc where Shan is pretty good.
 
Shaan needs time. I like his attitude and positivety. Needs to score runs and also get Babar to score and SSA to get his zip back
 
@topspin

Masood is absolutely not the right option for captaincy in the short-term. That is an absolutely ridiculous statement.

Masood is utter rubbish. He is the worst top-order batsman to ever play for Pakistan cricket and I can back that with numbers.

View attachment 140385

Imam is no Alaistair Cook, but he is still better than Masood. Drop Imam if you want but at least come up with proper alternatives not players who don’t exist or only do in the fantasies of the fans.

You can’t ask for Imam to get chucked out of the team when you have appointed your worst ever batsman as captain.

Imam:

Age 28
Tests 23
Average 38

Masood:

Age 34
Tests 30
Average 28

It is absolute bonkers to argue that Masood deserves to play ahead of Imam.

Imam can be Masood’s replacement. Go ahead and find a replacement for Masood.

Don’t give me this nonsense that Masood is better off the back foot. He is not capable off either foot. A complete failure of a batsman who gets out in every possible way.

That is the biggest indication of his mediocrity. He is weak against everything due to which there is no pattern to his dismissals. He is not good at anything.

Imam is clearly bad against short bowling but other than that he is not bad at all for our standards and choosing between him and Masood is not a tough choice to make.
Well he is in the job and now needs the support of all fans, selectors and the idiotic PCB.
 
Shaan needs time. I like his attitude and positivety. Needs to score runs and also get Babar to score and SSA to get his zip back
True! just after one defeat media is creating extra pressure on him which is not justified at all.

It will affect his game too.
 
True! just after one defeat media is creating extra pressure on him which is not justified at all.

It will affect his game too.
I think half of the time our media and ex players are so petty that they are desperate for people to fail so they can be proved right. Look at the losers on here that are desperate for Babar and Riz to fail so they can get some brownie points in boasting.
 
I quite liked some of his tactics and field positions. Especially the short ball ploys, etc. He has, I think, the 5th highest list-A (average) among ALL players who have ever played cricket in history. So I think he deserves a longer stint and I think he has the ability to grow into the role.
 
Kamran Akmal was the worst batsman. And don’t say he’s a keeper because he was dropping catches like no tomorrow and was only in the team for his batting.

Shan is not great but not our worst. And let’s not even get into the other parts like fitness, behaviour etc where Shan is pretty good.
Firstly, Kamran’s century against India in Mohali on a day 5 turner against Kumble to save a Test and his century against India in Karachi 2006 to rescue Pakistan from 39/6 and help them win the series are bigger than Masood’s entire career.

Secondly, I am referring to top 3 batsmen not all batsmen. Please see the screenshot above.

Masood has the lowest average for any opener/number 3 in Pakistan Test history (min. 50 innings).
 
Firstly, Kamran’s century against India in Mohali on a day 5 turner against Kumble to save a Test and his century against India in Karachi 2006 to rescue Pakistan from 39/6 and help them win the series are bigger than Masood’s entire career.
These achievements are bigger than Babar and Rizwan’s career combined so far.
 
I quite liked some of his tactics and field positions. Especially the short ball ploys, etc. He has, I think, the 5th highest list-A (average) among ALL players who have ever played cricket in history. So I think he deserves a longer stint and I think he has the ability to grow into the role.
Lowest Test average for any opener/number 3 in Pakistan cricket history (min. 50 innings) is a bigger indicator of Masood’s level as a batsman than his domestic List-A average where he has faced 90% of the bowlers who never played or were never successful in international cricket.
 
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Firstly, Kamran’s century against India in Mohali on a day 5 turner against Kumble to save a Test and his century against India in Karachi 2006 to rescue Pakistan from 39/6 and help them win the series are bigger than Masood’s entire career.

Secondly, I am referring to top 3 batsmen not all batsmen. Please see the screenshot above.

Masood has the lowest average for any opener/number 3 in Pakistan Test history (min. 50 innings).
The Mohali wicket didn't turn but the innings was awesome because of the circumstances. The Karachi innings was one of the great innings by a PK.
 
Not sure why people are giving Shan time to settle in.

To date, he has achieved nothing in international cricket to justify his selection as a top order batsmen.
 
@topspin

Masood is absolutely not the right option for captaincy in the short-term. That is an absolutely ridiculous statement.

Masood is utter rubbish. He is the worst top-order batsman to ever play for Pakistan cricket and I can back that with numbers.

View attachment 140385

Imam is no Alaistair Cook, but he is still better than Masood. Drop Imam if you want but at least come up with proper alternatives not players who don’t exist or only do in the fantasies of the fans.

You can’t ask for Imam to get chucked out of the team when you have appointed your worst ever batsman as captain.

Imam:

Age 28
Tests 23
Average 38

Masood:

Age 34
Tests 30
Average 28

It is absolute bonkers to argue that Masood deserves to play ahead of Imam.

Imam can be Masood’s replacement. Go ahead and find a replacement for Masood.

Don’t give me this nonsense that Masood is better off the back foot. He is not capable off either foot. A complete failure of a batsman who gets out in every possible way.

That is the biggest indication of his mediocrity. He is weak against everything due to which there is no pattern to his dismissals. He is not good at anything.

Imam is clearly bad against short bowling but other than that he is not bad at all for our standards and choosing between him and Masood is not a tough choice to make.

Shan Masood was one of Pakistan's best two batsmen during the last tours of Australia and South Africa where he average high 30s in both series.. He has a proven record on hard, bouncy wickets, whereas Imam is a serial failure in this regard. Shan was the best batsman in the side during last year's WT20, which was held in Australia. If you're going to refute his abilities to play off the back-foot, your either biased or ignorant, which one is it?

Your hero, Imam, could only dream of making the Pakistan T20 squad for a tournament held in Australia because we all know how substandard he is against the short ball and playing on the back foot in general. In fact, his shot range is so limited, I can only laugh at how anyone can admire him the way you do.

Coming to Shan's career averages, I don't rely on distant past performance stats when a player has improved their overall game like the way Shan has. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he was so awful during his first two stints that I actually couldn't bare his presence for the Pakistan side during those years.

However, I'm also just and open-minded. If I see a player who has made changes by working hard and has made improvements with technique, I'll always be flexible in my thinking. This is something I suggest you work on because even after Imam's miserable World Cup with the bat, you continue to back him. You said something along the lines of "I promise he will come good". I think you need take a look at Imam's belly and what he was eating during the World Cup because you genuinely need a reality check when it comes to your hopes for him.

I maintain that Shan Masood was the best choice captain for Pakistan on a short-term basis. He had to be picked for this tour of Australia because he has excelled a lot more than his team mates in these conditions during the past. However, if he fails here and if there is no test tour of South Africa in 2024, I'll be joining you, demanding for him to be dropped from the side because I don't hold much hope that he will do well elsewhere if he can't perform in his favourite batting conditions. The question is when will you join me to support for the exclusion of your beloved Imam. I find it strange because I thought you hated Imams in general?

I'm severe when it comes to my criticism of Imam particularly because of his misplaced arrogance and attitude. In an interview, he once said "I'm automatic selection". This should never go down well with any Pakistan fan. As soon as he said that, I knew he was never going to improve nor was he going to maintain high levels of fitness and I was proven right.
 
Shan Masood was one of Pakistan's best two batsmen during the last tours of Australia and South Africa where he average high 30s in both series.. He has a proven record on hard, bouncy wickets.
Shan Masood in Australia 2019:

Average 39

Shan Masood in South Africa 2019:

Average 38

If your definition of "proven record" for a batsman is an average of 38-39, you are implicitly admitting that you think very little of Masood and don't expect any performance from.

whereas Imam is a serial failure in this regard. Shan was the best batsman in the side during last year's WT20, which was held in Australia. If you're going to refute his abilities to play off the back-foot, your either biased or ignorant, which one is it?
I am neither biased or ignorant but you are clearly deluded. How is an average of 38-39 an advertisement of his back-foot prowess?

Also, how was he Pakistan's best batsman in the World T20 2022 with a shambolic SR of 118? Since when is a SR of 118 acceptable in the format? You have, on record, bashed Babar and Rizwan for not being T20 players because they have had a SR in the 130s but yet, you are celebrating Shan Masood's 118 SR in the T20 World Cup?

Again - you are implicitly admitting that you think very little of Masood and don't expect any performance from him if you are celebrating his performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Your hero, Imam, could only dream of making the Pakistan T20 squad for a tournament held in Australia because we all know how substandard he is against the short ball and playing on the back foot in general. In fact, his shot range is so limited, I can only laugh at how anyone can admire him the way you do.
Getting selected or not selected in the Pakistan team says very little about your credentials as a cricketer because most selections are not done on merit.

I don't "admire" Imam. Find me better alternatives and I will drop him forever. However, if your alternative is Masood, then I am happy to stick with Imam because his international career and overall body of work and his age clearly indicate that he is a better player than Masood with a higher ceiling.

Speaking of only laughing, I can only laugh at the fact that you rate Masood who is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan Test cricket. Let's face it - you only like him because he is educated and articulate. That is it.

Coming to Shan's career averages, I don't rely on distant past performance stats when a player has improved their overall game like the way Shan has. I've said it before and I'll say it again, he was so awful during his first two stints that I actually couldn't bare his presence for the Pakistan side during those years.
How has Shan improved?

His first stint was in 2013. His second stint was in 2015-2016. His third stint started in 2019 and it is still going on.

This is his record in Test cricket since making a comeback in 2019:

18 matches, average of 30, 1 century.

How is this an "improvement"?

What would you say about a batsman who averages 30 over 18 Test matches in the prime of his career?
However, I'm also just and open-minded. If I see a player who has made changes by working hard and has made improvements with technique, I'll always be flexible in my thinking. This is something I suggest you work on because even after Imam's miserable World Cup with the bat, you continue to back him. You said something along the lines of "I promise he will come good". I think you need take a look at Imam's belly and what he was eating during the World Cup because you genuinely need a reality check when it comes to your hopes for him.
Once again - where is Shan's improvement? What has he improved? He is averaging 30 since his last comeback in 2019. If your "improvement" yields an average of 30, what does that say about your capability as a batsman?

Shan can work 24 hours a day but he will never deliver because he is simply not good enough. He doesn't have the ability to deliver. Hard work is essential but if it not complemented by natural talent, you will never excel at the highest level in any sport.

Masood falls into that category. If he wasn't hard working, he would probably be average 15 in Test cricket and with his hard work, dedication and commitment, he is averaging 28. That is his ceiling as a player. He is simply not good enough for international cricket and never will be good enough. I don't know what it will take for people to accept it.

Imam is not perfect. He has a lot of flaws and he is not a top player by any means, but it is all relative. Imam is not competing with world class openers from other team. He is competing with other openers within Pakistan and he has clearly shown over the years that he is good enough to hold his place in the team and if someone better comes along, he will make way. This is how it is. However, if the choice is between Masood and Imam, you have to go with Imam because Masood offers nothing that Imam doesn't.

Masood is inconsistent, he has a worse record than Imam and he is also much older. There isn't a single benefit of having Masood over Imam in the team. Not a single.
I maintain that Shan Masood was the best choice captain for Pakistan on a short-term basis. He had to be picked for this tour of Australia because he has excelled a lot more than his team mates in these conditions during the past. However, if he fails here and if there is no test tour of South Africa in 2024, I'll be joining you, demanding for him to be dropped from the side because I don't hold much hope that he will do well elsewhere if he can't perform in his favourite batting conditions. The question is when will you join me to support for the exclusion of your beloved Imam. I find it strange because I thought you hated Imams in general?

I'm severe when it comes to my criticism of Imam particularly because of his misplaced arrogance and attitude. In an interview, he once said "I'm automatic selection". This should never go down well with any Pakistan fan. As soon as he said that, I knew he was never going to improve nor was he going to maintain high levels of fitness and I was proven right.
How is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan cricket the best choice for captaincy? Just because he can speak English? Speaking English is a bonus. You first need to prove that you belong in the best Pakistan XI and then worry about your English and captaincy. Does Masood belong in the best Pakistan Test XI? No he does not.

Does Imam belong in the best Pakistan Test XI? It is debatable, but what is not debatable is that he deserves it more than Masood.

Is Masood some brilliant tactician that we can play him as a specialist captain and overlook his awful batting record? Clearly not, his captaincy was nothing to talk about. In fact, he got penalized for slow over-rate. So much for being a thoughtful and smart captain lol.

Shan Masood is a poor batsman who never was and never will be good enough for international cricket. Making someone like him as captain is a complete joke. Your captain doesn't have to be the best player but clearly, he can't be the worst player either and Masood is right up there as one of the worst - if not the worst - player in Pakistan cricket over the course of his career.

10 years and 58 innings of pure rubbish.
 
Shan Masood in Australia 2019:

Average 39

Shan Masood in South Africa 2019:

Average 38

If your definition of "proven record" for a batsman is an average of 38-39, you are implicitly admitting that you think very little of Masood and don't expect any performance from.


I am neither biased or ignorant but you are clearly deluded. How is an average of 38-39 an advertisement of his back-foot prowess?

Also, how was he Pakistan's best batsman in the World T20 2022 with a shambolic SR of 118? Since when is a SR of 118 acceptable in the format? You have, on record, bashed Babar and Rizwan for not being T20 players because they have had a SR in the 130s but yet, you are celebrating Shan Masood's 118 SR in the T20 World Cup?

Again - you are implicitly admitting that you think very little of Masood and don't expect any performance from him if you are celebrating his performance in the 2022 T20 World Cup.


Getting selected or not selected in the Pakistan team says very little about your credentials as a cricketer because most selections are not done on merit.

I don't "admire" Imam. Find me better alternatives and I will drop him forever. However, if your alternative is Masood, then I am happy to stick with Imam because his international career and overall body of work and his age clearly indicate that he is a better player than Masood with a higher ceiling.

Speaking of only laughing, I can only laugh at the fact that you rate Masood who is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan Test cricket. Let's face it - you only like him because he is educated and articulate. That is it.


How has Shan improved?

His first stint was in 2013. His second stint was in 2015-2016. His third stint started in 2019 and it is still going on.

This is his record in Test cricket since making a comeback in 2019:

18 matches, average of 30, 1 century.

How is this an "improvement"?

What would you say about a batsman who averages 30 over 18 Test matches in the prime of his career?

Once again - where is Shan's improvement? What has he improved? He is averaging 30 since his last comeback in 2019. If your "improvement" yields an average of 30, what does that say about your capability as a batsman?

Shan can work 24 hours a day but he will never deliver because he is simply not good enough. He doesn't have the ability to deliver. Hard work is essential but if it not complemented by natural talent, you will never excel at the highest level in any sport.

Masood falls into that category. If he wasn't hard working, he would probably be average 15 in Test cricket and with his hard work, dedication and commitment, he is averaging 28. That is his ceiling as a player. He is simply not good enough for international cricket and never will be good enough. I don't know what it will take for people to accept it.

Imam is not perfect. He has a lot of flaws and he is not a top player by any means, but it is all relative. Imam is not competing with world class openers from other team. He is competing with other openers within Pakistan and he has clearly shown over the years that he is good enough to hold his place in the team and if someone better comes along, he will make way. This is how it is. However, if the choice is between Masood and Imam, you have to go with Imam because Masood offers nothing that Imam doesn't.

Masood is inconsistent, he has a worse record than Imam and he is also much older. There isn't a single benefit of having Masood over Imam in the team. Not a single.

How is the worst top-order batsman in history of Pakistan cricket the best choice for captaincy? Just because he can speak English? Speaking English is a bonus. You first need to prove that you belong in the best Pakistan XI and then worry about your English and captaincy. Does Masood belong in the best Pakistan Test XI? No he does not.

Does Imam belong in the best Pakistan Test XI? It is debatable, but what is not debatable is that he deserves it more than Masood.

Is Masood some brilliant tactician that we can play him as a specialist captain and overlook his awful batting record? Clearly not, his captaincy was nothing to talk about. In fact, he got penalized for slow over-rate. So much for being a thoughtful and smart captain lol.

Shan Masood is a poor batsman who never was and never will be good enough for international cricket. Making someone like him as captain is a complete joke. Your captain doesn't have to be the best player but clearly, he can't be the worst player either and Masood is right up there as one of the worst - if not the worst - player in Pakistan cricket over the course of his career.

10 years and 58 innings of pure rubbish.
Shan was Pakistan's highest averaging batter in South Africa 2018/19 and 3rd highest averaging batter in Australia 2019/20 from among the Top 7 (Behind Rizwan and Babar)

He may not be world class but he was definitely on of Pakistan's better batters on both tours.
 
Shan being dealt some horrible cards due to injuries to bowlers.

Coming away with 1-0 will be a good result for him now.
 
Shan was Pakistan's highest averaging batter in South Africa 2018/19 and 3rd highest averaging batter in Australia 2019/20 from among the Top 7 (Behind Rizwan and Babar)

He may not be world class but he was definitely on of Pakistan's better batters on both tours.
But that doesn’t mean he was any good. If one batsman averages 25 and everyone else averages 10, it doesn’t mean that the 25 averaging batsmen played well. It simply means he was less rubbish compared to others.

Masood has always been a rubbish player and the fact that his so-called best series are the ones where he averaged 35-40 shows how awful he is.

You should be averaging 70+ in your best series.
 
But that doesn’t mean he was any good. If one batsman averages 25 and everyone else averages 10, it doesn’t mean that the 25 averaging batsmen played well. It simply means he was less rubbish compared to others.

Masood has always been a rubbish player and the fact that his so-called best series are the ones where he averaged 35-40 shows how awful he is.

You should be averaging 70+ in your best series.
Yes, he is an average player when it comes to the international arena. Now, he is the captain of the Pakistan Test Team. Let him show what he has in the box for at least four series. Then, we can analyze his performance.
 
But that doesn’t mean he was any good. If one batsman averages 25 and everyone else averages 10, it doesn’t mean that the 25 averaging batsmen played well. It simply means he was less rubbish compared to others.

Masood has always been a rubbish player and the fact that his so-called best series are the ones where he averaged 35-40 shows how awful he is.

You should be averaging 70+ in your best series.
I didn't say he was good. But Pakistan's standards are so low when it comes to Test cricket that he did merit selection. And since Babar is no longer captain, it made sense to make him captain considering how he fared on those tours.

Who would you give the captaincy to in this side? Sarfraz? Shaheen? Literally scraping the bottom of te barrel to even put a competent Test XI right ow so I doubt captaincy actually matters.
 
Shan Masood was the demand of the time. Babar needed a break from captaincy because we saw him extremely depressed during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
 
Shan was Pakistan's highest averaging batter in South Africa 2018/19 and 3rd highest averaging batter in Australia 2019/20 from among the Top 7 (Behind Rizwan and Babar)

He may not be world class but he was definitely on of Pakistan's better batters on both tours.
That's proberly because he's a better player of the short ball once the ball is pitched up he has no idea.
 
I didn't say he was good. But Pakistan's standards are so low when it comes to Test cricket that he did merit selection. And since Babar is no longer captain, it made sense to make him captain considering how he fared on those tours.

Who would you give the captaincy to in this side? Sarfraz? Shaheen? Literally scraping the bottom of te barrel to even put a competent Test XI right ow so I doubt captaincy actually matters.
Our bowling is crap our batting is OK.
 
Mudassar Nazar speaking in an interview

“I’ve noticed ongoing attempts to fit him into the team and eventually appoint him as captain. This occurred during Najam Sethi’s time, and now, under Zaka Ashraf, we see a similar pattern,”

“Poor guy, (Shan Masood )what options does he have? He became captain on a challenging tour without securing a spot in the team. He was appointed captain amid a tough series, despite having no place in the playing XI,”
 
Pakistan cricket on a downhill curve, Shan Masood a specialist batter averaging 28 and age 33 becomes captain replacing a younger guy who is country's best batsman, that's the irony
 
Shan Masood could not bat in the first innings of the 2-day practice game against Victoria but now he has come to bat instead of Imam to open with Abdullah after victoria declared their innings for 272 runs.
 
He missed the boat again as he is gone after scoring just 6 runs off 9 balls. These are not good signs for Pakistan team.
 
I didn't say he was good. But Pakistan's standards are so low when it comes to Test cricket that he did merit selection. And since Babar is no longer captain, it made sense to make him captain considering how he fared on those tours.

Who would you give the captaincy to in this side? Sarfraz? Shaheen? Literally scraping the bottom of te barrel to even put a competent Test XI right ow so I doubt captaincy actually matters.
I would have retained, or at least tried to retain Babar as Test captain.
 
He is only one year younger than Kohli. At this age captaining a weak side against one of the biggest home track bullies in their backyard is a tough nut to crack. For what its worth he was not utterly mediocre. HE did okay given the resources. But definitely his non-contribution as an individual to the team cannot escape the attention. He can drop himself down the order instead of facing new ball just to get some momentum. Babar can bat at 3.
 
He is only one year younger than Kohli. At this age captaining a weak side against one of the biggest home track bullies in their backyard is a tough nut to crack. For what its worth he was not utterly mediocre. HE did okay given the resources. But definitely his non-contribution as an individual to the team cannot escape the attention. He can drop himself down the order instead of facing new ball just to get some momentum. Babar can bat at 3.
Well why does he open, he can do good there. Because it's been his mainstay in the past.
 
He is only one year younger than Kohli. At this age captaining a weak side against one of the biggest home track bullies in their backyard is a tough nut to crack. For what its worth he was not utterly mediocre. HE did okay given the resources. But definitely his non-contribution as an individual to the team cannot escape the attention. He can drop himself down the order instead of facing new ball just to get some momentum. Babar can bat at 3.

Yes, I agree with you.Babar should bat at No. 3 ahead of Shan Masood because Babar is a consistent player and accumulator. He can build a good partnership and add runs from 50 to 100 if his bat is responding well.
 
I would have retained, or at least tried to retain Babar as Test captain.
After Babar, it should have been Rizwan as test captain. He is atleast averaging 40 and the best keeper in the country. So his elevation to captaincy would have made more sense than Masood.
 
Shan's was made test captain which makes no sense at all. His own place in the team is very shaky tbh but now he is here as captain so he has to come good else he will also fade away soon. He needs to make some runs not just for the team but also for himself. He can open with Abdullah and play some specialist batter down the order or else he can come down the order so he does not have to face the new balls more.
 
Shan Masood was the demand of the time. Babar needed a break from captaincy because we saw him extremely depressed during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023.
Who demanded Masood and on what grounds?

What is the logic behind appointing your worst top order batsman in history as captain?
 
The problem is that Pakistan has a poor habit of not developing the next captain in case the current one goes away. After Misbah, we had captains like Azhar or Sarfaraz and Babar. Sarfaraz was a captain in his early days of cricket so he was ready for that role, else nobody was groomed to be a captain. Just like it happened with Shan. He was not ready because his own performance was not worthy to be in the team but he was made captain just because he can speak good english I guess.
 
I was impressed with the way Shan spoke at the toss. It was also a bit of vindication that Cummins said he would bowl first as well. Now let's see how he captains today!

Shan Masood, Pakistan Captain: "Just having looked at the MCG Tests for the past three years the bowling side has done well. There's been a bit of weather around so we'd just like to avail every opportunity with the ball. We did [think about playing Sajid] but looking at the ground and the T20 World Cup last year, it was seam heavy, and I thought Agha did a decent job in Perth keep one end quite economical so we'll try and do the same."

Pat Cummins, Australia Captain: "We were going to have a bowl as well. This year's pitch feels a little bit harder than previous years. There's a bit of grass, a bit of cloud cover but we're not too upset to have a bat."
 
Wonder if Shan thinking that in his head!

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I think slips are positioned too closely, Shan should be more aggressive by placing a cover fielder at the 3rd slip. Its a very big gap between gully and 2nd slip.

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I think Shan missed a trick by not giving the new ball to Hassan Ali. He just looked more threatening, especially to Marsh
 
I think Shan missed a trick by not giving the new ball to Hassan Ali. He just looked more threatening, especially to Marsh
Missed a trick? It's his job to make these decisions, they are not difficult decisions. Absolutely brainless. Both Jamal and Hassan Ali would have been better. It's not that Hamza is bad but 2 left armers is nit wise.
 
Pretty good field placement to get rid of Mitch Marsh. A fielder was placed in no-man-land between point and deep point and Marsh hit the ball straight to him. Really well thought out plan.

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Are you talking about Shan Masood the batsman or Shan Masood the captain.

Shan Masood the batsman is the worst top-order in history of Pakistan Test cricket with average of 28 after 30 Test matches.

Shan Masood the captain is so smart and thoughtful that Pakistan was docked 10% of its match fee in the Perth Test because of slow over-rate.
 
Pretty good field placement to get rid of Mitch Marsh. A fielder was placed in no-man-land between point and deep point and Marsh hit the ball straight to him. Really well thought out plan.

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I wish he had also thought out who to bowl and when to prevent his players losing 10% of their match-fee in the Perth Test.
 
Captain is showing some good intent out there again. Let's see if he can push on.
 
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