What now for Shan Masood?

[mominsaigol]

I genuinely have a question about the merits of this guy?

First of all, when it comes to the nepotism factor, he seems to be supported more then any other player in the history of Pakistan cricket.

Yes Pakistan has had nepotistic selections in the past such as Muhammad rizwan, Chacha, Imam ul Haq, Abdullah Shafique Asad Shafiq(For odi), Ahmed Shehzad, Muhammad irfan, Imran Farhat and many other undeserving players who never warranted selection in the first place, But they all did something to warrant a spit for some time

For example all of them have had match winning moments and some achievements that you may consider as some sort of justification to keep them in the squad. But Shan Masood has none?

He has no match winning innings, no notable performances in any format, no notable domestic performances as he had a poor local domestic tournament, A history of poor PSL and anytime I've seen this lad in county he's been terrible.

And yet he gets made captain and keeps coming back into the squad one way or another?

He's arguably the biggest Ladla of the PCB, despite having virtually zero arguments to have him even being a reserve member let alone in the playing 11.

To top it off, he's the pakistani captain in history to not have any wins in test cricket?(Not counting Rizwan, Malik, Afridi, Asif Iqbal and others as they didn't captain for long and only had one offs at most), And even if you wish to count them, None of these guys lost 5 games in a row.

So genuinely what's the deal with him? I'm fully aware of his father's connections and have done a deep dive into it, but still? Can pcb really be that stupid?

The goal of the organisation is to turn pakistan into a competitive cricketing nation, so even with nepotism included, I fail to see what they see in Shan as a leader and batsmen? What's the plan and direction with him?

A) He's 34 so age isn't on his side.

B) He's the worst Opener/top order test batter to ever represent the game for pakistan after a set number of innings.

C) He has a winless test captaincy record

D) Every year I see him in psl or local one day cups or fc cups or county, I see him performing poorly making his 50+ avg in List A a greater mystery then the Egyptian Pyramids?

 

[mominsaigol]

I've been wanting to rant about Shan for a while now, the only argument people had such as his educational profiency and his good spokesmen skills within the English language and sharp fielding antics all went down the drain when

A) He ran away like a coward and had Sarfraz Captain and make onfield decisons during the 2nd test against Bangladesh after having God awful and clueless field selections.

B) Fought tooth and nail with the umpire in the 1st test against Bangladesh showcasing his so called behaviour issues which no captain, not even sarfraz or Younis Khan have been able to achieve said aggression. To top it off he issued the same nonsense during the PSL

C) His inclusion effectively means pakistan is playing with am extra tailender.

 

[The Bald Eagle]

Shan Masood is fighting a battle of survival like Sarfaraz. The day he would lose captaincy, the day he would be excluded from the squad.

 

[RyanRyan10]

Shan is a very likeable guy. Must lead Pakistan test team for 5 years.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Shan Masood is fighting a battle of survival like Sarfaraz. The day he would lose captaincy, the day he would be excluded from the squad.

Maybe this England series would be the last one for him as a captain.. if he still desnt perform then "Khatam... Bye Bye... Ta Ta... Good bye... Gya "

 

[Savak]

Jason Gillespie likes Shan. He requested PCB not to change the captain or the squad at this point in time.

 

[Bewal Express]

Shaan has had a great reprieve. He will be against an English team lacking quality in bowling and suspect batting lineup that can collapse. Let's hope he takes this opportunity

 

[mominsaigol]

Shaan has had a great reprieve. He will be against an English team lacking quality in bowling and suspect batting lineup that can collapse. Let's hope he takes this opportunity

He can't even attack much weaker bowlers in the local cup? Even in that tournament, his ceiling is 50 if the pacers are medicore because he'll last long enough until spin comes into play where he'll be dismissed or if the pacers are half decent he'll get out

 

[Cricket Warrior]

Jason Gillespie likes Shan. He requested PCB not to change the captain or the squad at this point in time.

After this England series JG himself will request pcb to remove him Captaincy

 

[Savak]

Shan's captaincy got exposed against Bangladesh. His scores of 30's and 40's were okay provided he compensated with his captaincy but he was not able to do that either. He let Bangladesh off the hook twice with his poor defensive captaincy

 

[Bewal Express]

He can't even attack much weaker bowlers in the local cup? Even in that tournament, his ceiling is 50 if the pacers are medicore because he'll last long enough until spin comes into play where he'll be dismissed or if the pacers are half decent he'll get out

He isnt a bad player but his statistics are terrible. He always threatens scores but rarely delivers. A career defining series for him

 

[jeeteshssaxena]

Shaan has had a great reprieve. He will be against an English team lacking quality in bowling and suspect batting lineup that can collapse. Let's hope he takes this opportunity

This English bowling lineup is definitely better than the one that toured last time. Olly Stone, Atkinson, Wood, Stokes, Bashir and Ahmed is a respectable bowling attack.

 

[Rana]

This English bowling lineup is definitely better than the one that toured last time. Olly Stone, Atkinson, Wood, Stokes, Bashir and Ahmed is a respectable bowling attack.

There is no wood

Shoaib Bashir is going to get smashed

Jack Leach and Rehan will be threats

 

[ads101]

None of the others you mentioned were nepotistic selections. All earnt their place through domestic, and in imam’s case U19 level. It was always expected imam would debut, just like Sami aslam due to u19 exploits. It’s just imam scored a century on debut and just performed from there despite a lower SR. Farhat was arguably selected and brought back due to nepotism, but he was arguably the best domestic opener in his time for Pakistan. Asad had one of the best list a records at the time and people were screaming for him to be selected. Same with Shehzad, he was the next big thing, performing well at a young age in domestic. Iftikhar has always done well in domestic cricket. Abdullah Shafique was hallmarked as a future talent, having a gold contract with Multan sultans despite never even playing a game yet. And Rizwan was performing in domestic before getting a call up with significant improvement in his keeping. These were all names that fans clamoured needed to enter the side as some point. So they can’t be called nepotism.

Masood is a different story. When he debuted, very few knew who he was or demanded him to be in the side. He came from nowhere. He didn’t have a great domestic record either when debuting, which made a lot of fans question if his inclusion was fair. Wasn’t hyped at a young age. He improved his domestic record particularly list an after his debut. Got back recalls and preferred to the two openers hyped from u19, imam and Sami aslam. You just can’t compare him with other players even on his entry and debut to cricket. It’s not the same. The others earnt their debut and initial chances far more.

What is impressive about Masood is his dedication to fitness, his improvement in domestic (given he started from very low) and I guess he speaks good English. He’s considered a hard worker, and you can see multiple times he’s tried to change and adapt his game. This in comparison to Babar for example who doesn’t adapt or try new things much (and to some people he doesn’t need to). But again this is a representation of someone with low talent. He has to work hard, maximise fitness, try everything and anything to try to succeed.

It’s a shame because his other qualities would make for a good captain. Which is why coaches like him. But lack of performances means he will never properly lead that team. I doubt the team deep down truly respects him. He went to Sarfraz because he’d run out of ideas, they were going to lose and he might as well try anything. I don’t think that’s cowardice really, if anything it showed humility and perhaps poor confidence in his ability. Which is understandable, he’s got to be internally questioning himself when he’s the worse player on the pitch. I think even his mistakes in captaincy have come from trying too hard to try to prove some sort of worth because it doesn’t come naturally as a player.

This is why it’s so important for a captain to lead through performance. Even if you were tactically brilliant which Shan isn’t, but he is probably better than Babar, I still think it won’t work as you still don’t inspire your team and get them to respect you.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Need the class and communication skills of Shan to balance out the painduness of the rest of the system.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Shan needs to go. This is beyond understanding that a guy averaging 28 in international cricket after 35 test matches is being made the captain just because he is a better communicator than others.

Is this the criteria now to get into the team and be a captain???

How long will it take to realise that Shan is a nothing player and he is not improving any thing.

 

[Bewal Express]

This English bowling lineup is definitely better than the one that toured last time. Olly Stone, Atkinson, Wood, Stokes, Bashir and Ahmed is a respectable bowling attack.

Wood is injured, no Jimmy

 

[mominsaigol]

Shan needs to go. This is beyond understanding that a guy averaging 28 in international cricket after 35 test matches is being made the captain just because he is a better communicator than others.

Is this the criteria now to get into the team and be a captain???

How long will it take to realise that Shan is a nothing player and he is not improving any thing.

Gotta get that English degree

 

[mominsaigol]

None of the others you mentioned were nepotistic selections. All earnt their place through domestic, and in imam’s case U19 level. It was always expected imam would debut, just like Sami aslam due to u19 exploits. It’s just imam scored a century on debut and just performed from there despite a lower SR. Farhat was arguably selected and brought back due to nepotism, but he was arguably the best domestic opener in his time for Pakistan. Asad had one of the best list a records at the time and people were screaming for him to be selected. Same with Shehzad, he was the next big thing, performing well at a young age in domestic. Iftikhar has always done well in domestic cricket. Abdullah Shafique was hallmarked as a future talent, having a gold contract with Multan sultans despite never even playing a game yet. And Rizwan was performing in domestic before getting a call up with significant improvement in his keeping. These were all names that fans clamoured needed to enter the side as some point. So they can’t be called nepotism.

Masood is a different story. When he debuted, very few knew who he was or demanded him to be in the side. He came from nowhere. He didn’t have a great domestic record either when debuting, which made a lot of fans question if his inclusion was fair. Wasn’t hyped at a young age. He improved his domestic record particularly list an after his debut. Got back recalls and preferred to the two openers hyped from u19, imam and Sami aslam. You just can’t compare him with other players even on his entry and debut to cricket. It’s not the same. The others earnt their debut and initial chances far more.

What is impressive about Masood is his dedication to fitness, his improvement in domestic (given he started from very low) and I guess he speaks good English. He’s considered a hard worker, and you can see multiple times he’s tried to change and adapt his game. This in comparison to Babar for example who doesn’t adapt or try new things much (and to some people he doesn’t need to). But again this is a representation of someone with low talent. He has to work hard, maximise fitness, try everything and anything to try to succeed.

It’s a shame because his other qualities would make for a good captain. Which is why coaches like him. But lack of performances means he will never properly lead that team. I doubt the team deep down truly respects him. He went to Sarfraz because he’d run out of ideas, they were going to lose and he might as well try anything. I don’t think that’s cowardice really, if anything it showed humility and perhaps poor confidence in his ability. Which is understandable, he’s got to be internally questioning himself when he’s the worse player on the pitch. I think even his mistakes in captaincy have come from trying too hard to try to prove some sort of worth because it doesn’t come naturally as a player.

This is why it’s so important for a captain to lead through performance. Even if you were tactically brilliant which Shan isn’t, but he is probably better than Babar, I still think it won’t work as you still don’t inspire your team and get them to respect you.

This is where you're wrong.

Imam made his debut much much much earlier then anticipated in 2018 despite Inzi who was the selector at that time constantly saying that Imam wouldn't as he wasnt ready only to backtrack. Credit to Imam for making use of his opportunity, but even after poor form he continues to stay in some shape or form like a leech. If this was someone like Kamran Ghulam or Tayyab tahir, They'd get the boot and would never been seen in international cricket again due to poor form and zero connections.

Farhat faiked once, He was brought back due to nepotism, You answered your own question.

It doesn't matter. Asad shafiq has the worst record at no 3 of any pakistani top order batter in history. Any other side like England even during its 2013 dark days would have demanded Asad shafique to be axed because he doesn't add anything in terms of SR or Avg and is a walking wicket. It's only due to Misbah connections that he got a free ride.

Again doesn't matter, it became clear as day that shehzad was a done case but was backed by afridi to stay whereas any other team would have kicked him out long ago.

Abdullah shafique was called up because of Babar azam liking the kid and liking the technique, he had only 7 List A's to his name yet was expected to OPEN FOR PAKISTAN IN A WORLD CUP? Anywhere else in the world the idea of doing so would be seen ludicrous. Australia didn't even do that with jake fraser and India even dropped Gill for 2024 due to poor form despite the fact that these 2 have more talent in their pinky finger them Abdullah shafique can possibly muster

Again it doesn't matter, Rizwan averaged 11 in 2015, despite this and that sarfi was vc at the time, Rizwan still got favoured by afridi for the t20 series in 2016 where rizzu failed yet again, Afterwards rizwan got called up again for the tri series and botched no 4 in comparison to fakhar who scored 2 brilliant half centuries against full strength Australia to get that no 1 rank, Then in 2019 he finally made use of his opportunity and scored 2 double hundreds and got his call up but failed again in 2020, Misbah thanks to SNGPL connections saved rizwan's career while destroying fakhar and sarfi in the process, Rizwan was flunking in domestic as well before Misbah promoted him as a SNGPL opener.

Anywhere else in the world, Infran farhat would have stayed dropped, asad shafiq would not have played for more then a year after such a garbage performance let alone over 60 games, Abdullah shafique would not be opening in a world cup with only 7 List A games, Rizwan wouldn't have made it past 2018.

All of these are nepo backings which someone more talented like Mukhtar Ahmed never got.

 

[ads101]

This is where you're wrong.

Imam made his debut much much much earlier then anticipated in 2018 despite Inzi who was the selector at that time constantly saying that Imam wouldn't as he wasnt ready only to backtrack. Credit to Imam for making use of his opportunity, but even after poor form he continues to stay in some shape or form like a leech. If this was someone like Kamran Ghulam or Tayyab tahir, They'd get the boot and would never been seen in international cricket again due to poor form and zero connections.

Farhat faiked once, He was brought back due to nepotism, You answered your own question.

It doesn't matter. Asad shafiq has the worst record at no 3 of any pakistani top order batter in history. Any other side like England even during its 2013 dark days would have demanded Asad shafique to be axed because he doesn't add anything in terms of SR or Avg and is a walking wicket. It's only due to Misbah connections that he got a free ride.

Again doesn't matter, it became clear as day that shehzad was a done case but was backed by afridi to stay whereas any other team would have kicked him out long ago.

Abdullah shafique was called up because of Babar azam liking the kid and liking the technique, he had only 7 List A's to his name yet was expected to OPEN FOR PAKISTAN IN A WORLD CUP? Anywhere else in the world the idea of doing so would be seen ludicrous. Australia didn't even do that with jake fraser and India even dropped Gill for 2024 due to poor form despite the fact that these 2 have more talent in their pinky finger them Abdullah shafique can possibly muster

Again it doesn't matter, Rizwan averaged 11 in 2015, despite this and that sarfi was vc at the time, Rizwan still got favoured by afridi for the t20 series in 2016 where rizzu failed yet again, Afterwards rizwan got called up again for the tri series and botched no 4 in comparison to fakhar who scored 2 brilliant half centuries against full strength Australia to get that no 1 rank, Then in 2019 he finally made use of his opportunity and scored 2 double hundreds and got his call up but failed again in 2020, Misbah thanks to SNGPL connections saved rizwan's career while destroying fakhar and sarfi in the process, Rizwan was flunking in domestic as well before Misbah promoted him as a SNGPL opener.

Anywhere else in the world, Infran farhat would have stayed dropped, asad shafiq would not have played for more then a year after such a garbage performance let alone over 60 games, Abdullah shafique would not be opening in a world cup with only 7 List A games, Rizwan wouldn't have made it past 2018.

All of these are nepo backings which someone more talented like Mukhtar Ahmed never got.

These are your opinions. That isn’t nepotism. There were fans and coaches who wanted these players in at the time for cricketing reasons. All those guys performed at domestic level or youth/u19 level to get the attention of fans and coaches. Whether it was early or not doesn’t matter, we have debuted plenty of cricketers too early. Even the way that you admit a lot of these guys performed after getting “unjustly” picked suggests it isn’t nepotism. Guys picking them predicted they would perform. You can’t just throw around the nepotism tag like that.

Farhat and Masood were the noticeable cases. And it’s not coincidence that the relations being claimed as enabling this nepotism were not coaches or captains. But at least farhat outperformed mostly the other openers in domestic in an era where opening options were bad. Masood didn’t even do that before debut.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Best case he leads us to series wins against England and Windies, retires, then takes up a role as a commentator or coach.

Worst cast he leads us to series losses against those sides, is sacked, then takes up a role as a commentator or coach.

He is not the best cricketer at county level but has connections (not just in Pakistan), is affable and despite his limited performance knows about cricket.

He will be fine.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Jason Gillespie likes Shan. He requested PCB not to change the captain or the squad at this point in time.

There is a reason why Mickey was fond of him too.

He is a cut above the rest of our players with the way he conducts himself.

That could be down to his privileged upbringing for sure.

But he stands out when in a room with the rest of our players.

 

[TheSultan]

It’s a simple answer.

“Wait and let’s pretend everyone’s forgotten what happened”.

This applies to all our failures.

 

[Mamoon]

Everything about him projects mediocrity.

His batting on face value (eye test), his stats, his body language, his facial expressions.

People rave about his fitness but all I see is a malnourished man with no muscles and zero power game.

As far as his communication is concerned, he comments are daft as anything but he gets away with it because of English.

He is one of the - if not the biggest - failure in Pakistan cricket history. A lot of people compare him to Ramiz and whilst there are some similarities, Ramiz has played some knocks that Masood can’t even dream of.

A completely rubbish cricketer in every aspect.

 

[mominsaigol]

Everything about him projects mediocrity.

His batting on face value (eye test), his stats, his body language, his facial expressions.

People rave about his fitness but all I see is a malnourished man with no muscles and zero power game.

As far as his communication is concerned, he comments are daft as anything but he gets away with it because of English.

He is one of the - if not the biggest - failure in Pakistan cricket history. A lot of people compare him to Ramiz and whilst there are some similarities, Ramiz has played some knocks that Masood can’t even dream of.

A completely rubbish cricketer in every aspect.

Glad we atleast agree on Shan Masood even if we disagree on everything else.

Shan is rubbish, calling him mediocre is honestly a compliment.

 

[mominsaigol]

These are your opinions. That isn’t nepotism. There were fans and coaches who wanted these players in at the time for cricketing reasons. All those guys performed at domestic level or youth/u19 level to get the attention of fans and coaches. Whether it was early or not doesn’t matter, we have debuted plenty of cricketers too early. Even the way that you admit a lot of these guys performed after getting “unjustly” picked suggests it isn’t nepotism. Guys picking them predicted they would perform. You can’t just throw around the nepotism tag like that.

Farhat and Masood were the noticeable cases. And it’s not coincidence that the relations being claimed as enabling this nepotism were not coaches or captains. But at least farhat outperformed mostly the other openers in domestic in an era where opening options were bad. Masood didn’t even do that before debut.

Their also your opinions, don't treat what you claim as factual.

 

[hassan918]

The upcoming test series against England would be very vital for him. He has to score big runs in this series in order to keep playing for the Pakistan national side. His average of 28.53 is clearly not enough.

 

[Cricket Warrior]

The upcoming test series against England would be very vital for him. He has to score big runs in this series in order to keep playing for the Pakistan national side. His average of 28.53 is clearly not enough.

He doesn't have the capability to go beyond this, so I'm sure this series will be another failure for him.