Mickey Arthur: “Shan has the ability to put pressure back on the bowlers which makes it a lot better for other batters”
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Derbyshire’s Head of Cricket Mickey Arthur said Pakistan opening batsman Shan Masood “has the ability to put pressure back on the bowlers”.
He noted that this is very useful as it allows the other batsmen to feel more relaxed and enables them to score runs a lot more easily.
Masood represented Derbyshire in eight County Championship matches this year and accumulated 1,074 runs, which included three centuries and four fifties, at an average of 82.61.
He also played 14 T20 Blast games and made 547 runs, which included five half-centuries, at an average of 45.58 and a strike-rate of 139.89.
“Shan has the ability to put pressure back on the bowlers which makes it a lot better for other batters,” Arthur, who used to be Pakistan’s head coach, was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Masood’s brilliant campaign with Derbyshire resulted in him getting recalled to Pakistan’s Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka.
However, the 32-year-old did not feature in either game.
He wasn’t selected for the three-match ODI tour of the Netherlands or the ongoing Asia Cup, which is being held in the UAE.
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), Hasan Ali, Naseem Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir