The Curious Case of Shan Masood, Pakistan’s Test Captain

DR Cricket is hopeful that Shan Masood is the skipper who will navigate Pakistan Cricket team’s marooned ship out of the troubled waters. But first he must overcome his own demons.

A 23-year-old Shan Masood impressed all and sundry when he scored 75 runs on his debut at Abu Dhabi in October 2013 against a formidable South African attack comprising Steyn, Philander, Morkel and Kallis. Then he followed it up with a duck in the seconds innings.

For the next decade, his 33-match test career adopted the same pattern. Sparks of brilliance succeeded by a string of ordinary performances. Who can forget his 242-run partnership with Younus Khan on a turning Pallekele pitch, in the fourth innings of the test match, to overwhelm a target of 377 runs, scoring his maiden test century. It was a great exhibition of grit, patience and selective aggression. That was in 2015, nearly one and a half year after his first test match. Another barren run followed that innings and Shan lost his spot in the test side.

But the fighter that he is, Shan Masood clawed his way back into the side. His next century came in 2019 against Sri Lanka at Karachi. This, however, was no flash in the pan. This time, he hit a purple patch and followed it up by two consecutive centuries in his next two test innings. In all, three tons in three test outings. Then the familiar zeros started popping up against his name in the scorecards. The form dipped, once again. However, one believes that Shan should have been persisted with, especially since he failed in conditions (England and New Zealand) where the top Pakistani batting order failed to score runs.

Yet Shan, being Shan, didn’t just roll over and die. He went about resurrecting his career. He played in the domestic circuit as well as the county cricket. Batting and more batting. Overcoming his deficiencies and adopting a free-flowing style of playing, he made another comeback in December 2022 against England and has been able to keep his place in the team.

But he needs to step up. Shan’s last test century was a mammoth 156 against England in Manchester 2020, twenty-two test innings ago. Though, he has made 3 half centuries to keep his career afloat yet too many promising starts have been wasted in a bid to score freely. Shan looked most assured batting in the last rubber in Australia where he led the Pakistan’s test contingent, but far too often played loosely outside the off stump and lost his wicket.

The county cricket administrators liked him. Yorkshire recognized his leadership ability and made him the captain of their county team in 2023. He still leads them in all formats. The Yorkshire County Cricket Club (YCCC) has these words for the left-handed batter on its website: “Masood is a classy top order batter who can put his foot on the gas when required.”

The PCB followed suit. After Baber relinquished captaincy, Shan was made captain of the test side. Immediately, he was thrown in the proverbial deep end as the new captain led his side to the shores of Australia where no Pakistani side has been able to win a test series. In fact, a whitewash has been the norm since the millennium started.

Shan’s handling of the troops, and his conduct on and off the pitch won him quite some praise even though Pakistan lost the series 3-0. It could very well have been 2-1 in Pakistan’s favour had the catches been held in the slips.

The recent debacle at the T20 World Cup has put paid to Baber’s return as a test captain and has ensured that Shan Masood continues as Pakistan’s red ball skipper. There are also voices that support his candidacy as the white ball captain, especially in the 50 over format. But first things first. Shan needs to win against Bangladesh who are scheduled to visit Pakistan for a two-test series in the coming August. The Shaheens must win comprehensively before redeeming themselves against the English who will be landing in Pakistan, in October, for a three-test series. Wounds from the last English visit are still festering in the minds of Pakistan’s supporters.

Moreover, Shan would want to improve on his test average of 29 per innings. He has to address any doubts as to his own place in the playing eleven, once and for all. Two centuries from the five home tests would do him a world of good.

The days of Mike Brearly type captains are no more. In fact, they should never have been. The age-old adage that a captain has to lead by example still holds true. Once he does that; once he doesn’t have to field questions about his own performance, we can assume that he will live to captain Pakistan to a ripe old age a la Misbah.

And yes, we might also see him leading the green- shirts on to the field, come the Champions Trophy.