Shan Masood is under-appreciated for his efforts in the ICC T20 World Cup 2022

[hafizexpress]

Hats off to the lad for giving it his best in a weak batting lineup. I am surprised that he's not being talked about as much as the woes of the team that has been discussed by the media. His batting performances vs India and Zimbabwe are what kept us in the game and ultimately helped our NRR. He played a wonderful cameo vs Bangladesh and was our best batsmen by far in the final. He mitigated the moving new ball well which our openers were clueless against. Shan is a huge reason why our middle order didn't continue to get heat in the world cup as he often rescued the innings after Babar and Riz failed. Yes he had two dud performances but if you look at the overall tournament and also consider our fragile batting, Shan did an excellent job.

I believe he might have been Pakistan's leading run scorer? It's only fair to believe as such but I haven't checked to make sure. I've been a big critic of him since the start of his test career but he punched above his weight to make his way into the t20 team and batted well in Australia. Also showed passion and energy in the field. Genuinely seems like a nice and team dude. Thoughts?

 

[TheSultan]

Yes, he has pushed himself above both Babar and Rizwan in the acculumators / anchors role

 

[Rana]

Yes, he has pushed himself above both Babar and Rizwan in the acculumators / anchors role

That’s because he actually reads the criticism dished out at him

The other two don’t really care and will not push themselves to be better

 

[Savak]

He actually looked the most technically solid and comfortable on the challenging wickets of MCG and Perth. Compared to how fragile he looked early on in his career, he has improved big time with the hard work and pushing himself beyond limits behind the scenes.

If only others in the team i.e. Haider Ali had his work ethic

 

[TheSultan]

That’s because he actually reads the criticism dished out at him

The other two don’t really care and will not push themselves to be better

Agreed - he has worked at his game and has better ambitions and game awareness that the other “Supermen”

 

[GLORY OF '92]

He has intelligence which is rare for a Pakistani player. Kept us in the India game, calm v Bangladesh and would have got us to 160 v England which was a shame.

 

[shamaan]

He had a good tournament.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

He's a very good player who could become a potentially great player if he was given chances in his two strongest formats: ODIs and Tests.

 

[Markhor]

One of the best players of bounce in our team. A must when we're touring Australia or South Africa.

 

[Mamoon]

The bar is always low for Masood. 30s and 40s are enough for his supporters to wax lyrical about him. This is because deep down, even they realize he is a nothing player.

Lacks power and looks so weak physically for someone who is apparently hitting the gym regularly. He is also very poor in the field and lacks any sort of intensity.

The only positive aspect is that he speaks well. I see a big future for him as a commentator but after 10 years, PCB should accept that he will never amount to much as an international cricketer.

He will always produce average numbers in every format.

 

[hafizexpress]

He actually looked the most technically solid and comfortable on the challenging wickets of MCG and Perth. Compared to how fragile he looked early on in his career, he has improved big time with the hard work and pushing himself beyond limits behind the scenes.

If only others in the team i.e. Haider Ali had his work ethic

His confident demeanour in those challenging wickets was extraordinary and looked way ahead of any of his teammates. The others like Haider Ali could really learn from him.

 

[shamaan]

He should be in the odi squad bearing.

 

[hafizexpress]

The bar is always low for Masood. 30s and 40s are enough for his supporters to wax lyrical about him. This is because deep down, even they realize he is a nothing player.

Lacks power and looks so weak physically for someone who is apparently hitting the gym regularly. He is also very poor in the field and lacks any sort of intensity.

The only positive aspect is that he speaks well. I see a big future for him as a commentator but after 10 years, PCB should accept that he will never amount to much as an international cricketer.

He will always produce average numbers in every format.

He surpassed expectations though. The bar was so low that nobody saw Masood being the leading run scorer with Babar and Rizwan in the team alongside the glorified Ifti in Australia and our overhyped all-rounder batsmen. But he facilitated well on those challenging wickets and was our best batsmen by far. He lacks power but definitely improved in that aspect too.

 

[Caved12]

The bar is always low for Masood. 30s and 40s are enough for his supporters to wax lyrical about him. This is because deep down, even they realize he is a nothing player.

Lacks power and looks so weak physically for someone who is apparently hitting the gym regularly. He is also very poor in the field and lacks any sort of intensity.

The only positive aspect is that he speaks well. I see a big future for him as a commentator but after 10 years, PCB should accept that he will never amount to much as an international cricketer.

He will always produce average numbers in every format.

Outside of this forum and in a real world, a lot of players actually improve with time as they get more experience, but for some reason you just get stuck and simply refuse to see the improvements they make.

Shadab, Haris Rauf, and your favourite Naseem are saying Hi to you

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Hats off to the lad for giving it his best in a weak batting lineup. I am surprised that he's not being talked about as much as the woes of the team that has been discussed by the media. His batting performances vs India and Zimbabwe are what kept us in the game and ultimately helped our NRR. He played a wonderful cameo vs Bangladesh and was our best batsmen by far in the final. He mitigated the moving new ball well which our openers were clueless against. Shan is a huge reason why our middle order didn't continue to get heat in the world cup as he often rescued the innings after Babar and Riz failed. Yes he had two dud performances but if you look at the overall tournament and also consider our fragile batting, Shan did an excellent job.

I believe he might have been Pakistan's leading run scorer? It's only fair to believe as such but I haven't checked to make sure. I've been a big critic of him since the start of his test career but he punched above his weight to make his way into the t20 team and batted well in Australia. Also showed passion and energy in the field. Genuinely seems like a nice and team dude. Thoughts?

Yes, he did well. Shan is a far better limited overs player than he is a Test player.
PCB often wastes players in wrong format. For example Ahmed Shahzad was a test player, he had 40+ average, yet he was wasted in Limited overs cricket where he struggled. I hope Shan now cements a spot for himself in ODI/ T20 teams.

 

[ElRaja]

hes technically very good but thats never been the problem, shans problems whether its tests or t20is is always been mental. he failed to finish the job off against zim, played a weak shot against eng to get out at a crucial stage, at when pak really needed him flopped against SA before shaddy bailed the team out.

does he deserve a place in this team, yes, but the operative word is this team, at 33, he's not a long term option, his ceiling for attacking play is limited. 17 innings is a big enough sample for me, and a strike rate of 121 isnt good enough imo.

 

[Saj]

I think Shan needs big hitters and more attacking batters around him in the top 4.

Rarely will Rizwan, Babar and Shan in the top 3 or top 4 succeed in making big totals.

 

[Rana]

I think Shan needs big hitters and more attacking batters around him in the top 4.

Rarely will Rizwan, Babar and Shan in the top 3 or top 4 succeed in making big totals.

If you ask me honestly

Shan should retire from this format with his head held high. Do it while you are still respected for your contribution, not when it’s too late

 

[GLORY OF '92]

I think Shan needs big hitters and more attacking batters around him in the top 4.

Rarely will Rizwan, Babar and Shan in the top 3 or top 4 succeed in making big totals.

Should be

Fakhar
Haris
Shan
Babar

 

[Kianig89]

He was actually the anchor among faux anchors, still a very limited player never helped us to cross the line, be it Zim, SA & Eng he also holed out

 

[moghul]

Whenever her tried to anchor the inning , didn't find any support from other end , many times in this WC he was the lone man standing.

 

[Cric1234]

The top 3 of Babar Rizwan and Shan wasn’t going to win matches for Pakistan the openers performed in one match that too due to a lucky escape after minnow level output in the group stages.

Shan was steady but not a match winner the pitches suited him more he won’t be as good next time around and his game isn’t suited to high scoring matches.

 

[zaidihusain]

I believe Shan can play important role in ODIs but he needs to learn art of building long innings at better strike rate which will help the team in chasing 280 plus targets. His strike rotation is better than others and Pak ODI really need someone who can play long innings.

 

[deems]

Just like the rest of the top order, not a match winner. He gets HIS runs. That's all.
And we were never going to win the final with our batting line up. We got to the final due to luck.

 

[Concerned]

Good to see ODI knocks in T20 being applauded.

 

[jaisan]

shan was very very comfortable with pace and bounce in this world cup.but the next 50 over wc is in india where big scores are needed.will he score quick enough ?

 

[PakPremi]

Lol@ Mamoon saying he was bad at fielding, on the contrary he was very good and looked very energetic. He has lot of muscles to show for his gym work. Hitting big 6s is not just about power it is also to do with timing , footwork , courage and selction of correct balls to hit.
As for Shan he was good for the Anchor role, infact he has showen more intent to score runs likes of Stokes, but unlike Stoke he needs to trust his big hitting more when situation demands it.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

True. There was literally no expectations from him for wt20. He was particularly very good against the spinners. In retrospect, he might have done even better as an opener. Think he will still struggle in Asia where the ball doesn't come that well on the bat or the outfield is slower.

 

[pakfan54588]

He literally throw it away after doing hard work there is big question mark on his game on slow wickets and it seems he will struggle outside of SA and aus pitches

 

[reversehook]

his stint is a superb example of "andhon mein kaana raja"...

 

[deems]

Some Pak fans can't accept that we have a mediocre batting line up and take every opportunity to hype players to the moon and back. For those comparing him to Stokes, that's a massive insult to a MATCH WINNER.
The hard truth is, we don't have any impact batters who can CHANGE the game within the space of a few balls. Shadab is as close as we will get to match winner and even he is far off it.

Azam Khan and Sharjeel Khan are the only impact batsmen I can see in domestic. One is a fixer and both are well overweight but honestly, I would have taken Azam over Shan or Khushdil to the world cup.

 

[shamaan]

I believe Shan can play important role in ODIs but he needs to learn art of building long innings at better strike rate which will help the team in chasing 280 plus targets. His strike rotation is better than others and Pak ODI really need someone who can play long innings.

Him and Haris should be competing for that number 4 position.

 

[shamaan]

shan was very very comfortable with pace and bounce in this world cup.but the next 50 over wc is in india where big scores are needed.will he score quick enough ?

Without looking at previews scores in India I reakon 280-300 will be par and the scores won't be 330+

 

[nam]

Shan speaks English very well.
Played some good knocks for losing causes.

 

[DHONI183]

I wanted to post something similar, but it would´ve run the risk of sympathising with a villain, so I let it pass because there´s a sense of anger against the way the Pakistan top-order has gone about in their approach in the recently concluded tournament. Look, first thing first, Shan is NOT a a T20 player and he should never be a part of Pakistan´s scheme of things going forward in this format - no, never, neverest. However, it is not his fault that he was selected and given a job which isn´t meant for him in the first place. How can anyone blame me, if tomorrow the German authorities decide to hire me as a train driver? However, the thing with Shan is that, on occasions in the tournament, he has shown enough match awareness and a sense of alertness that he should be praised for it. In the match against India, when wickets kept going down around him, he kept rotating the strike, kept stealing the ones and the twos, and got 50 off 40 with a good-ish strike-rate, again, given the match situation. I can name quite a few Pakistan batsmen who wouldn´t have made 50 off 40, even without any loss of wicket at the top of the order. Then in the Final, he was smart enough to realise that Livingstone was a weak-link in that England bowling line-up and showed enough game awareness to have have taken 16 runs of his over to have put Pakistan on track to get a very competitive total. Above all, I find it admirable how he has said that he would share the blame between himself and Shadab for the batting failure in the Final. For a Pakistan batsman, that´s huge and most unexpected, if you ask me.

Leading into the tournament, I had had a disagreement with my friend over Shan Masood, and he justified most of what I had defended him about. He did show match awareness on at least a couple of occasions that it should be mentioned, even if I still maintain that, in an ideally world, he shouldn´t be a part of any international T20 team of any country, perhaps.

 

[Moiz14]

Come on. He is not a t20 player. Good for tests.. Avg for odi and not at all for T20..
He only succeeded in those matches where batting collapsed and it suited his style to build up and just when we required momentum, he got out as he didn't have the power and shots to offer.. His last inning against eng was a bit better but that also was very tiny one.. Not even a fifty... A six and a four to Livingston... Again he Looked good bcz everyone else failed...

 

[Rana]

I wanted to post something similar, but it would´ve run the risk of sympathising with a villain, so I let it pass because there´s a sense of anger against the way the Pakistan top-order has gone about in their approach in the recently concluded tournament. Look, first thing first, Shan is NOT a a T20 player and he should never be a part of Pakistan´s scheme of things going forward in this format - no, never, neverest. However, it is not his fault that he was selected and given a job which isn´t meant for him in the first place. How can anyone blame me, if tomorrow the German authorities decide to hire me as a train driver? However, the thing with Shan is that, on occasions in the tournament, he has shown enough match awareness and a sense of alertness that he should be praised for it. In the match against India, when wickets kept going down around him, he kept rotating the strike, kept stealing the ones and the twos, and got 50 off 40 with a good-ish strike-rate, again, given the match situation. I can name quite a few Pakistan batsmen who wouldn´t have made 50 off 40, even without any loss of wicket at the top of the order. Then in the Final, he was smart enough to realise that Livingstone was a weak-link in that England bowling line-up and showed enough game awareness to have have taken 16 runs of his over to have put Pakistan on track to get a very competitive total. Above all, I find it admirable how he has said that he would share the blame between himself and Shadab for the batting failure in the Final. For a Pakistan batsman, that´s huge and most unexpected, if you ask me.

Leading into the tournament, I had had a disagreement with my friend over Shan Masood, and he justified most of what I had defended him about. He did show match awareness on at least a couple of occasions that it should be mentioned, even if I still maintain that, in an ideally world, he shouldn´t be a part of any international T20 team of any country, perhaps.

This is why I think he should honourably retire from T20i format and still be appreciated, instead of clinging on and getting thrown out dishonourably

 

[ChTab]

What efforts??
Looked like a tailender while batting, haven't played a single match winning innings,played quite a few match losing ones. I seriously think most of our deluded fan base adore him because he can speak english.

 

[Rana]

What efforts??
Looked like a tailender while batting, haven't played a single match winning innings,played quite a few match losing ones. I seriously think most of our deluded fan base adore him because he can speak english.

It’s more because criticising him means they have to stay consistent and criticise others who’s deficiencies they want to ignore.

 

[Ami]

He has a use if he either opened or is not one of many anchors in the team.
But, then, looking at Pak resources, where they are just happy to get runs on the board, he is ideal.
Pak are not going anywhere quick, if he is your go-to player; he will keep the status quo on status quo.

 

[Msd_7]

Not a T20 player and 3 anchors in top order is injurious is to Pakistan circket

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

not sure what people are celebrating about, every time he scored we lost. Definitely not an impact player and the SR bar is so low set that he pretty 30 40s look great to PCT fan. ( Watched 4 games live in this T20 WC)