Pakistan's newly appointed Test captain Shan Masood named six players who can prove to be valuable in the three-match Test series against Australia. The first match of the Test series will start on December 14 at Perth Stadium in Western Australia. (Cricket News)
Pakistan team are currently playing Prime Minister XI in a four-day warm-up match in Manuka Oval, Canberra. In a press conference following the trophy ceremony before the warm-up game, Masood talked about the versatility and talent of the six players who can be effective against Australia in the upcoming Test series. He mainly focused on the bowling department. Along with Shaheen Afridi, he hailed Mir Hamza, Khurram Shahzad and Mohammad Wasim Junior for their pace, consistency and recent accolades.
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"We have got six other guys with Shaheen, each posing a different kind of threat for batsmen. We have got two top first-class performers like Mir Hamza who is a left-arm bowler, he has also played some county cricket, played a couple of Test matches. We have got Khurram Shehzad who was the highest wicket-taker in our domestic season. We thought we could utilize somebody like Mohammad Wasim Junior, who can add a bit of pace if the ball does reverse. He can be handy at the SCG it will be quite handy," Masood highlighted in the press conference.
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He also talked about the all-rounders Aamer Jamal and Faheem Ashraf who can be useful with the bat as well. Faheem Ashraf is making his comeback into the Test side whereas Jamal will make his debut if he gets a chance. Both are left-arm fast bowlers and can also add runs while batting in the middle-order.
"Aamer Jamal is an all-rounder that we are keeping an eye on, he works with good pace and hammers a good length that might be useful here and we are hoping Faheem Ashraf grows into this role and provides us something with the bat and something good with the ball so we have quite a lot of options and hopefully we will see what we bring out tomorrow and that might reflect what we might go in the Test match," Masood concluded.
After Day 1 of the four-day warm-up match against PM XI in Canberra, Pakistan made 324 runs at the loss of six wickets thanks to Shan Masood's 156 not out.
Shan Masood was given the captaincy of the Test team after Babar Azam stepped down from the role of Pakistan Cricket team's Captain in all formats last month followed by Pakistan's below-average performance in the recently concluded ODI World Cup in India. Masood was chosen for the job because he had the experience of captaining the Yorkshire County Cricket side, according to PCB Chief selector Wahab Riaz.
