Pakistan’s national team selector, Mohammad Wasim, has said that the opening batter, Shan Masood, is close to getting a call-up to the national white-ball squads.
Shan, who has been in the form of his life, missed out on Pakistan’s ODI squad for their series against West Indies causing a huge debate among the cricketing fraternity on social media.
The 32-year-old has been scoring runs for fun over the past year. He finished as one of the top performers in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and continued his superb run in the County Championship. Once regarded as a Test opener, Shan has completely transformed his game in the limited-overs format.
He was recently named as captain of Derbyshire Falcons in the ongoing T20 Blast in England. He led his team to victory in his 2nd match with a fine fifty.
Shan’s performances have finally caught the attention of Mohammad Wasim, who stated that Shan’s performances in white-ball format are hard to ignore and fully warrant him a place in the national squad.
“Shan Masood isn’t far away from the Pakistan team. He is a part of the red-ball squad as the third opener, and he’s close to the white-ball squads,” Wasim stated.
“Our problem is that we have a top-heavy lineup in white-ball cricket. Our next consideration is perhaps giving him a chance at another position [white ball] and I’ve been in touch with Shan about that,” he added.
Wasim added that while they are open to trying Shan in the middle-order, his inexperience in the position in domestic cricket puts forward a dilemma for the national side. He said that it might prove to be a costly mistake if Pakistan tries Shan in the middle-order without having prior experience in the position and he has stated his worries to Shan directly.
The 43-year-old stated that Shan is on board with the idea and it is still under consideration.
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