Wahab Riaz: “Shan Masood didn’t get consistent opportunities earlier, he is a fantastic performer [in] domestic [cricket]”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz believes Test captain Shan Masood “didn’t get consistent opportunities” to cement his place in the team in the past.

Masood, who replaced Babar Azam as Test skipper after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, recently led the men in green in their three-match Test series against Australia.

Despite having the added pressure of being captain, the 34-year-old did pretty well with the bat, amassing 181 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 30.16.

Wahab pointed out that Masood deserved more chances as he has repeatedly excelled in domestic cricket.

“Shan Masood didn’t get consistent opportunities earlier, he is a fantastic performer [in] domestic [cricket],” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.

Despite Masood being Pakistan’s second-highest run-scorer in the Australia series, the men in green were whitewashed 3-0.

Pakistan will now take on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series, which begins on January 12 in Auckland.

Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan

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