Shan Masood is expected to make a comeback to the national side as Fakhar Zaman’s replacement following a below-par Asia Cup campaign by the latter. While Fakhar Zaman has constantly failed to impress at the international level in his recent outings, Shan Masood is enjoying the form of his life with the bat in the domestic tournaments.
Here’s a statistical analysis of the two contenders for the T20 World Cup as well as England’s historic tour of Pakistan:
While both are openers, Fakhar Zaman and Shan Masood are now competing for a spot in the middle order of the national side. With openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan well set at the top, Fakhar Zaman has played at the no.3 position for a while. However, the star batter failed to find his groove at the position as his strike rate dipped quite badly.
Fakhar Zaman had a forgettable outing in the recent Asia Cup 2022 as he managed only 96 runs in 6 matches at a strike rate of just around 100.
On the other hand, Shan Masood is currently in supreme form in domestic tournaments. The in-form batter has played 35 matches this year with 1237 runs to his name at an impressive strike rate of 137 while averaging 39.90. Shan Masood has also proved his mettle at no.4 in the ongoing National T20 Cup, scoring 204 runs at a strike rate of 129 in 8 matches maintaining an average of 34. However, it is pertinent to mention that Fakhar Zaman too performed remarkably in the domestic tournaments but all those performances came while opening the innings which is most probably not going to be his position in the national side.
| Player | Fakhar Zaman | Shan Masood |
| T20 Matches Played in 2022 | 21 | 35 |
| T20 Runs Scored in 2022 | 687 | 1,237 |
| Strike Rate | 141.06 | 136.68 |
| Average | 32.71 | 39.90 |
| T20I Matches Played in 2022 | 7 | 0 |
| T20I Runs Scored in 2022 | 96 | – |
| Strike Rate | 102.12 | – |
| Average | 13.71 | – |
| T20 Matches Played (Not Opening) | 8 | 8 |
| T20 Runs Scored (Not Opening) | 99 | 204 |
| Strike Rate (Not Opening) | 97.05 | 129.93 |
| Average (Not Opening) | 12.37 | 34.00 |
Shan Masood is certainly seeing the peak of his form at the moment but it is yet to be seen if he will be able to continue the streak in Australia where batting conditions get tougher and trickier. As another option, Fakhar Zaman might be given a chance at the opening slot once again since it fits him much better, however, both Babar and Rizwan are well set at the top of the order.
It will be a big decision for the selectors, and everyone’s waiting to see how the final squad stacks up. Note here that 16 September is the last date to announce squads for the mega event in Australia.