Jason Gillespie: “Shan Masood has navigated some pretty choppy waters as captain. It’s been a tough initiation for him as a leader”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has praised Test captain Shan Masood for managing to navigate through “pretty choppy waters” and has backed him for more success in the future.
Masood’s future as captain remains unclear as the men in green haven’t been getting the results expected of them, even though they won the second Test of their ongoing three-match series against England.
Gillespie noted that the 35-year-old and himself are “very well-aligned in what we think and how we want the team to play” and expressed confidence that victories will come if people are patient.
“Shan Masood has navigated some pretty choppy waters as captain. It’s been a tough initiation for him as a leader. What’s really inspired and delighted me about Shan’s captaincy and leadership is that he has a clear vision of how he wants the Pakistan team to play, and he’s fully committed to that,” he was quoted as saying by Grassroots Cricket on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“He and I are very well-aligned in what we think and how we want the team to play. While the results haven’t been quite what we’d like, the philosophy and thinking are clear, and the results will come.”
Masood led Pakistan in their two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green lost 2-0.
In those two games, he amassed 105 runs, which included a top score of 57, at an average of 26.25.
He then represented the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition held in Faisalabad, and finished with 102 runs in four matches at an average of 25.50.
Currently, he is captaining Pakistan in a three-match Test series against England and has made 176 runs in the two games, which includes a top score of 151, at an average of 44.
The series is tied at 1-1 going into the third Test, which begins on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.
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