Mohammad Hafeez: “For me, seeing Shan become captain is no surprise. He was always ready for this role”
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Pakistan team director Mohammad Hafeez is not at all surprised by Shan Masood’s rapid rise to becoming Test captain, saying he “was always ready for this role.”
Masood replaced Babar Azam after the latter stepped down as skipper in all three formats following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Hafeez is confident that the 34-year-old will do very well as captain as he has prior experience at the domestic level.
“For me, seeing Shan become captain is no surprise,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick. “He was always ready for this role, and when you get this sort of opportunity, it shines. He’s a superb player, and as a leader, he’s got a great rapport with the players and a great relationship with the whole team.
“His experience as a captain and what he’s learned over the years – especially the couple of years he’s played county cricket – have all seen his management skills have come to the fore even more. What’s important is this is a confident unit that’s here and Shan is playing his role very well.”
Masood made his Test captaincy debut in the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia and has scored 146 runs in the first two Tests, which includes two fifties, at an average of 36.50.
Pakistan are 2-0 down in the series and will look to claim a consolation win in the third Test, which starts on January 3 in Sydney.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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