Shan Masood: “We will have to work on bringing in consistency in selection. You will have to bear with players’ failures. It’s not just about Babar Azam, the more consistently you give a chance to someone, the better he will perform”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood has addressed the team’s woes as of late, insisting that the issues don’t solely stem from Babar Azam failing to perform with the bat.
Azam is supposed to be the leader of Pakistan’s batting line-up, but his form has been highly turbulent over the past few months.
Recently, the 29-year-old only managed to make 64 runs at an average of 16 in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green shockingly lost 2-0.
While Azam’s batting was one of the problems, Masood noted that other players need to stand up, especially if they are being given opportunities to represent their country at the highest level.
“We will have to work on bringing in consistency in selection. You will have to bear with players’ failures. It’s not just about Babar Azam, the more consistently you give a chance to someone, the better he will perform,” the 34-year-old was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the series against Bangladesh, Masood finished with 105 runs, which included a top score of 57, at an average of 26.25.
Azam and Masood are now featuring in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition taking place in Faisalabad.
Azam has scored 225 runs in three matches for the Stallions, which includes a century and a fifty, at an average of 112.50.
Masood is also playing for the Stallions and has amassed 94 runs in three games at an average of 31.33.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-Test series against England, which is set to be played from October 7 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi
[TS_Poll id=”99″]