Shan Masood, Pakistan’s left-hand opening batsman, was dropped by Pakistan selector Mohammad Waseem due to his poor outing is the last few Test matches.
Shan Masood had a great start from the end of 2019. He started with consecutive centuries against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh when both Asian teams toured Pakistan.
Then Pakistan toured England for three-match Test series. In the first Test match at Manchester, Shan Masood scored a brilliant 156. It was his third consecutive century.
Shan Masood made his comeback in the South Africa series in 2018-’19, and since then, he has been Pakistan’s best player after Babar Azam. After his brilliant knocks against South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and England, it seemed that Pakistan have found at least one permanent opener. Till his 156 in England, Shan’s record since his comeback was 780 runs at an average of 48.75 with three centuries and three fifties.
But it was too early to say it. After Shan’s brilliant innings of 156 in the first innings against England in the first Test, Shan did not score another fifty again. In his next seven innings, he scored 33 runs at an average of 4.31 with the high score of 18.
Subsequently, he was dropped from the Test side when squads were announced for South Africa Test series. However looking back, was it right to drop Shan Masood, who batted at difficult conditions of England and New Zealand?
Should Shan Masood given another chance at home series?
Before he started to fail, Shan scored a brilliant 156 against a good English attack.
Openers usually struggles in swinging conditions of England and New Zealand. So dropping Shan Masood seemed to be unfair.
Had Shan Masood given another chance this South Africa series, maybe he could have found form again. Shan averages 60 in Pakistan with two centuries and four innings and he could have found some rhythm in home conditions.
Now looking at failures of Abid Ali, who have 219 runs in 11 innings at an average of 19 before the start of South Africa series, Shan would have been a better candidate to open with Imran Butt.
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