Azeem Ghumman: “Even the current Test captain of [the] Pakistan team, he’s a very hardworking guy. I’ve seen it with my own eyes”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Azeem Ghumman has praised Test captain Shan Masood for being a “very hardworking guy”.
Masood has come under increasing scrutiny for a couple of reasons – one of the main being Pakistan’s poor results lately.
In addition to this, the 35-year-old hasn’t been scoring runs consistently, which has raised questions about whether he even deserves to be in the Test team.
Nonetheless, Ghumman noted he has seen Masood putting in the hard yards with his “own eyes” and wishes the veteran cricketer all the best going forward.
“Even the current Test captain of [the] Pakistan team, he’s a very hardworking guy. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. So this is also one thing, not only talent but talent has to flourish. And for that to flourish, you need a system, people, and hard work in the right direction,” he told PakPassion.
Masood recently captained Pakistan in their 2-0 Test series loss to South Africa and made 192 runs, which included a top score of 145, at an average of 48.
He then led the men in green in their two-Test series against the West Indies, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
In that series, he finished with 80 runs, which included a top score of 52, at an average of 20.
Masood was not picked for Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where the men in green lost to New Zealand in the final.
He also wasn’t selected for the ongoing 2025 Champions Trophy, where Pakistan have been eliminated in the group stage after losing to New Zealand and India.
Pakistan’s last match will be against Bangladesh on February 27 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah