Misbah-ul-Haq: “At some point, you should give him a few matches and keep on giving him confidence”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said opening batsman Shan Masood should be given the opportunity to play a few matches in order to ensure he doesn’t lose confidence.
His comments come after Masood was picked for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which concluded as a 1-1 draw.
He wasn’t selected in the playing XI for either match, meaning he still hasn’t played Test cricket since January 2021.
However, just the recall alone is a step in the right direction for the 32-year-old as he had fallen out of favour with the national selectors.
But, he slowly got back on their radar through his domestic performances and an outstanding campaign with Derbyshire.
In the eight County Championship matches he featured in, Masood amassed 1,074 runs, which included three centuries and four fifties, at an average of 82.61.
He also excelled in the T20 Blast as he made 547 runs in 14 games, which included five half-centuries, at an average of 45.58 and a strike-rate of 139.89.
With the veteran top order batsman in red-hot form right now, Misbah feels that Pakistan should take advantage of it and give Masood some game time so that his confidence keeps growing after being away from the national team for such a long time.
“At some point, you should give him a few matches and keep on giving him confidence,” he told Jazz Cricket as quoted by Cricwick.
Masood hasn’t been picked for Pakistan’s next assignments, which will be a tour of the Netherlands and the Asia Cup.
The men in green will play three ODIs against the Netherlands in Rotterdam from August 16 to 21.
After that, they will head to the UAE for the Asia Cup, which will be held from August 27 to September 11.
Pakistan squad for Netherlands ODIs: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zahid Mehmood
Pakistan squad for Asia Cup: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir