The Pakistan limited-overs hopeful says he willing to play any role that the team wants out of him.
Shan Masood responded to Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s comments on his batting position in the limited-overs side. Masood, who has been in tremendous form in all formats domestically since earlier this year, was expected to get the nod for the ODI series against the West Indies at home.
But the selectors opted to look past the left-hander, with Babar stating it would be “unfair” on Masood for Pakistan to slot him in at No.5 or 6 – the only unsettled spots in the 50-over side – since he has opened the innings over the years.
The 32-year-old Masood, however, thinks he can adjust to the demands of the middle-overs duties, too. This, especially as he has had a tremendous stint with Derbyshire in county cricket in England this summer.
Batting for the club part of Division 2 of the County Championship, Shan Masood has compiled a whopping 893 runs at 89.30 with a strike-rate of 73.67 with 3 hundreds and 3 fifties. He backed this up with a terrific campaign in the T20 Blast as well, scoring 287 runs from eight innings at a strike-rate of 150.26.
Shan Masood disagrees with Babar Azam on batting slot comment
For those unaware, speaking recently about Shan Masood’s snub from the ODIs against the West Indies, Babar Azam mentioned “I think it would be unfair with Shan to play him at No. 5 or 6.”
Now responding to those remarks, Masood, who believes in his flexibility and willingness to do any role for Pakistan, said: “I’ve said it earlier as well, I don’t have an issue with the batting order. An opener plays cricket in all the phases – he faces the new ball as well as the old and takes on both spinners and fast bowlers.”
“If he stays till the end, he does the hitting as well. So, you can’t say that he doesn’t know how to bat in different roles. When I started playing domestic cricket, I played a lot of no.4. In the PSL, I played at no.3 when the team required. I played at no.3 in Tests as well,” he added.
Before undergoing a highly fruitful stint in county cricket in England, Shan Masood had his most prolific seasons in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022. He finished the tournament as the third highest run-getter with 478 runs at 39.83, carrying a strike-rate of 138.15.
For Masood, the bigger “unfair” thing against him would be to get pigeonholed in one specific role and not even be looked into for the middle-order spots if the opportunity presents itself.
“I talked to Mohammad Wasim and Mohammad Yousuf. I know there’s no evidence of me batting at other positions recently, but I don’t believe that a position can define you,” he said. “When you look at the past, different batsmen have played different roles. You look at England, where batsmen keep shuffling in their positions.”
“I don’t want to limit myself in a format, as well as at a position. If someone tells me that Pakistan requires you to play at a particular number, I will. I won’t blame anyone. Playing for Pakistan is the biggest thing at the end of the day,” the in-form batter added.
