"We have to win the pressure moments if we have to defeat South Africa" : Shan Masood

[shaaik]

Shan Masood speaking to the media at end of Day 2:


Its not playing the new ball in South Africa, and they (openers) got the shine off the ball.

I dont think any opening batsmen looks pretty (on this pitch) and its easier for number 3 batsman

They (openers) batted for 12 overs and that took the lacquer off the ball which allows number 3,4,5 and 6 to be in a more comfortable position

Hats off to Imam-ul-Haq and Fakhar Zaman as they gave us a good start

Fakhar's dismissal was very unfortunate as well as I thought he connected well but it went straight to the fielder

So, again, disappointed that we didn't cash in on a very good start

There were some key moments when we were 100/1 today and also when Azhar Ali and I had a good partnership going yesterday.

If you look at the bigger picture, we are obviously disappointed because if we had batted longer, if Imam and I could have batted another hour and then number 5 and 6 could have batted another hour after Tea, then my 65 would have probably been a good score

You like to think when you are set, you can go on and make it big as this is international cricket and its the big score that counts; so if this score contributes to a winning result, I would be happy about it

Conditions are obviously different to where we have been playing our cricket

We have been in South Africa for the past 2 weeks and from our practice sessions and our warm-up game, you will see that a lot of our players have responded well

Unfortunately, today we had a lapse (in concentration) but I dont think this was an issue with playing the short-ball as collectively as a unit we have worked on this aspect a lot

If you watched us in this Test and in the practice game, you will see that we also scored a lot of runs on the short ball as well.

If you look at the first innings, you will see that we had South Africa on 44/4 and if we had bowled better to the 2 new batsmen we could have bowled out South Africa and an even lower score

Its the 4th innings and this is Test cricket and we have been in these situations before but ideally we would have liked a target closer to 200 runs

We have to win the pressure moments if we have to defeat South Africa in South Africa

 

[Abdullah]

Sensible guy, but would have liked some more upbeat quotes.
The boys need to be believing they can do this in the morning.
We had them 40-4 first time around and we can get them to that stage again.

 

[MenInG]

Yes sensible stuff but one can feel the pain he must be feeling about lost opportunities in this game.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

Could have scored a massive ton had others stayed. He looked comfortable against Oliviers.

 

[Ahmed216]

Played a commanding innings on a difficult pitch. Sort of stuff u expect at this level.
Imam too played a gutsy knock.
Unfortunately our seniors dont stand up to the demands of the situation most of the times

 

[Kohli The King of Chase]

Omg he seems like a sensible guy and can answer well. If he has improved and has captaincy experience, make him one. Won't be worse than Sarfraz.

Nothing against pak players, but his choice of words are so refreshing.

Was bored of hearing same statements from Asad, Azhar and Sarfraz.

We played well, pitch was difficult, ball was not coming onto bat, we'll comeback strong, we have 2 more games left, we can still win the series.

 

[Green Patriot]

He may not be the most talented batsman,although his knock today and recent form has been commendable,but i do have to give it to him in terms of vocals.I absolutely enjoy watching him talk.Refreshing and sensible.

 

[Pete Rose]

Pakistan should open with yasir at the other end. I know it’s sounds like overkill and that you should give other bowlers chances because this pitch helps the faster men, but in my view Pakistan willl bring him in too late and he might be in run containment mode rather than wicket taking mode. Worth trying for a couple of overs to see how things go.

 

[Ami]

One thing I fail to understand is why cant they ever drop continuously under performing players like Shafiq, Imam, Sarfraz etc.
What is it with PCB that they just lack guts.
Why do they regard Pak Cricket as their 'jageer'
why?
cCan someone please explain why?

 

[topspin]

Captaincy material if he can nail a place in the XI. An intelligent cricketer, who has a good command of English and isn't socially unaware like some of the other players.

 

[Suleiman]

We are 2 batsmen short. Asad and Sarfraz are proven duds, someone needs to start a poultry farm thread for the latter as well. God knows how many ducks this year.

 

[The Viper]

Omg he seems like a sensible guy and can answer well. If he has improved and has captaincy experience, make him one. Won't be worse than Sarfraz.

Nothing against pak players, but his choice of words are so refreshing.

Was bored of hearing same statements from Asad, Azhar and Sarfraz.

We played well, pitch was difficult, ball was not coming onto bat, we'll comeback strong, we have 2 more games left, we can still win the series.

True. I especially dislike when Sarfaraz says “we will learn from our mistakes”.

 

[DRsohail]

Have heard micky had some harsh words with the seniors.

 

[Markhor]

Fair play to Shan, that was a classy and gutsy knock. Chicken hearted seniors Azhar, Asad and Sarfraz were shown up by him and Imam today.

 

[Hawkeye]

Shan is educated, rich, can speak very well, knows how the modern social life works, good connections.

All he lacks somewhat are cricketing skills, particularly batting.

He can be a very good captain - a specialist captain at this point. Unless he starts performing consistently against decent bowling for 1-2 years.

Then, he can both be a captain and a batsman.

 

[Abdullah]

Pakistan should open with yasir at the other end. I know it’s sounds like overkill and that you should give other bowlers chances because this pitch helps the faster men, but in my view Pakistan willl bring him in too late and he might be in run containment mode rather than wicket taking mode. Worth trying for a couple of overs to see how things go.

Shouldn't get a bowl unless 2 lefties are out there.
This is only gonna take 45 overs either way, so the 3 quicks should ensure able to manage. If we need to bring him on probably means we are in trouble

 

[Hasan123]

I have been critical of him but he deserves credit. He seems to have made some improvements and showed a lot of character with the knock he played today. His list A numbers are great , so he should start the ODI series as well.

 

[Hawkeye]

I have been critical of him but he deserves credit. He seems to have made some improvements and showed a lot of character with the knock he played today. His list A numbers are great , so he should start the ODI series as well.

Not so fast.

SA will easily work him out rest of the series.

Shown some improvement, but not good enough to do well for any significant time.

Still limited.

 

[Plumb]

Biggest problem with our batsmen is foot work and not knowing the offstump. He is praising Fakhar and watching fakhar in the first 5 overs, not sure if he knew where his off stump is he looked scared and lived on the edge. Imam on the other hand had better footwork and knew about his off stump but he was also edgy in the beginning.

I would like Shan and Imam to open next game. Fakhar I would really make him play some domestic before joining the test squad or he should just stick to short format.

Shan had a better footwork and looked solid from the beginning I believe he carried on his domestic form (which is very rare from a pakistani batsmen) Losing Harris was a big blow. With Shafiq,azhar our middle order I would really not talk about them as they embarrassed us

 

[Hasan123]

Not so fast.

SA will easily work him out rest of the series.

Shown some improvement, but not good enough to do well for any significant time.

Still limited.

In ODIs inzi has left us with Shan or Imam as he won’t select an inexperienced player this close to the WC. If I had to pick 1 for ODIs it would Shan. He deserves a chance in that format due to his form.

 

[MenInG]

Not so fast.

SA will easily work him out rest of the series.

Shown some improvement, but not good enough to do well for any significant time.

Still limited.

So you think with all the video footage etc they havent done that now? Give some credit to Shan for sticking it out.

 

[Pete Rose]

Shan is educated, rich, can speak very well, knows how the modern social life works, good connections.

All he lacks somewhat are cricketing skills, particularly batting.

He can be a very good captain - a specialist captain at this point. Unless he starts performing consistently against decent bowling for 1-2 years.

Then, he can both be a captain and a batsman.

I watched Shan play last and now. And the improvement is significant. A rare case of a batsman going away and fixing his game. Cape Town will be a different challenge as he will face the type of bowling that gave him grief in England. Seaming wicket Anderson type bowling. For him to show that his hard work is a process of continuing improvement

 

[Sunny_majoka]

the guy has improved a lot and is very sensible guy. give him long rope

 

[Mamoon]

There is no doubt that he fits the profile of a captain in terms of his background. However, the one thing that the Sarfraz disaster has taught us is that appointing a mediocre player captain based on his purple patch is going to backfire.

Masood has worked very hard and he has clearly improved, but he has also been very poor for the majority of his career. Our fans get excited very easily - there is every possibility that his lack of ability is eventually going to catch up with him.

I hope that is not the case and he goes from strength to strength, but at least wait for 2 years and let him score a few big hundreds against quality teams before honoring him with captaincy.

 

[MenInG]

The nature of the pitch at Centurion meant Pakistan were in with a good chance of winning the opening Test against South Africa, despite setting the hosts just 149 to win the match, Pakistan batsman Shan Masood has said.

Having conceded a first-innings lead of 42, the tourists were comfortably placed at 100/1 with opener Imam-ul-Haq and Masood looking like they had a measure of the bowlers. However, the wicket of Haq triggered a collapse as they were bowled out for 190.

Masood, who top-scored with 65 even as he ran out of partners, admitted to some frustration and disappointment, but was not writing off his team’s chances.

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” he said after the second day’s play on Thursday, 27 December, when asked if the target was defendable. “If you look at the first innings, we had South Africa at 43/4. If we’d bowled well to the two new batsmen, we could have got them out for an even lower score.

“It’s the fourth innings, it’s Test cricket ... But, ideally we would have liked to have a target that was closer to 200 runs.”

Coming back on day three, it was up to the bowlers to take the early wickets while the fielders would have to contain the boundary runs, he said.

On this surface, “you’re never in as a batsman, and as a bowling unit that’s an advantage for us”, he pointed out. “The track is certainly variable. With the new ball you would like to be as accurate and make the batsman play as much as possible. The cracks are doing a bit. The ball has kept low as well. It is all about taking early wickets and restricting the boundaries.

“We give ourselves a good chance to win the game.”

South Africa’s Temba Bavuma, the only batsman to make a fifty in their first hit, agreed that it would be a tricky chase on a surface where the batsmen felt they could get out any time.

“The first 15 to 20 overs will be key,” he said. “We would like to be as positive as we can, try to assert ourselves against their bowlers. Pakistan have a very good bowling attack. It won’t be easy, but if we can dominate those first 20 overs, it will make things a lot easier for the guys coming in.”

On the approach required from the batsmen, he added, “You have to have good plans, you have to exercise patience, and the biggest thing is that when the bad ball presents itself, you have to put it away.”

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/958662

 

[Hawkeye]

In ODIs inzi has left us with Shan or Imam as he won’t select an inexperienced player this close to the WC. If I had to pick 1 for ODIs it would Shan. He deserves a chance in that format due to his form.

So you think with all the video footage etc they havent done that now? Give some credit to Shan for sticking it out.

I watched Shan play last and now. And the improvement is significant. A rare case of a batsman going away and fixing his game. Cape Town will be a different challenge as he will face the type of bowling that gave him grief in England. Seaming wicket Anderson type bowling. For him to show that his hard work is a process of continuing improvement

Pardon me for not jumping on the bandwagon of someone who has failed his entire career, except one or two innings.

I'm not yet convinced and neither should selectors be at this time. Nobody is saying he didn't show any improvement, he did, but it remains to be seen if he can continue it for 1-2 years.

Or even the rest of the series!

Don't forget that he scored 70 odd in his SA game in the UAE as well and people started calling him the next Saeed Anwar.

I was critical at that point as well.

Now I can only hope that he ends up doing well against most decent opposition, for a long time .


Only then he can be considered a captain+batsman. Right now his batting credentials and spot in the team is not guaranteed. Still a bit limited.

 

[Hawkeye]

There is no doubt that he fits the profile of a captain in terms of his background. However, the one thing that the Sarfraz disaster has taught us is that appointing a mediocre player captain based on his purple patch is going to backfire.

Masood has worked very hard and he has clearly improved, but he has also been very poor for the majority of his career. Our fans get excited very easily - there is every possibility that his lack of ability is eventually going to catch up with him.

I hope that is not the case and he goes from strength to strength, but at least wait for 2 years and let him score a few big hundreds against quality teams before honoring him with captaincy.

That is spot on.

Sarfaraz was woeful and then he had a purple patch, deceiving everyone. We made him the captain, still reaping that.

Masood has good ingredients in terms of education, personality, but batting credentials are not proven and a spot in the team is yet to be guaranteed.

Need to wait.

 

[MenInG]

Hope Pakistan have learnt something from this debacle.

 

[Hasan123]

Pardon me for not jumping on the bandwagon of someone who has failed his entire career, except one or two innings.

I'm not yet convinced and neither should selectors be at this time. Nobody is saying he didn't show any improvement, he did, but it remains to be seen if he can continue it for 1-2 years.

Or even the rest of the series!

Don't forget that he scored 70 odd in his SA game in the UAE as well and people started calling him the next Saeed Anwar.

I was critical at that point as well.

Now I can only hope that he ends up doing well against most decent opposition, for a long time .


Only then he can be considered a captain+batsman. Right now his batting credentials and spot in the team is not guaranteed. Still a bit limited.

I am not overhyping him. I have already said on another thread he shouldn't be made captain until he is on the team on merit.

But his list A numbers have earned him a chance for ODIs. If he proves to not be good enough he should be dropped. The same for tests. We will see if this innings was a one off or not in a few games.