Shan Masood

Shan Masood Khan Biography

Born on October 14, 1989 in Kuwait, Shan Masood is a Pakistani left-handed opening batsman. Masood’s family moved to Pakistan very early in his life due to the Iraqi invasion in Kuwait and the start of the Gulf War.

As a son of a member of the Board of Governors at the PCB, Masood’s biggest challenge in his early career has been to prove that he was there in the Pakistan side on merit, and not because of other external factors. But he did enough to earn the recognition to make the national squad for Test cricket.

Background

Masood has been regular in the U15s and U19s for Pakistan. A stylish left handed opener, Masood's rise to fame was a brilliant knock of 80-odd against Australia in an U19 game in 2007.

Masood made his first class debut by playing for Karachi Knights in 2007 in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

He played an anchor’s innings of 54 while playing against Hyderabad Division Cricket Association.

He was also instrumental in the triumph of Habib Bank Limited in the 2011 tournament.

During his school days in England in 2009, he was very successful for Stamford school in 2009, scoring 1237 runs at an average of 103, which was a school record then.

He also played three first-class games for Durham University, facing the likes of Liam Plunkett, Graham Onions and Ajmal Shahzad.

His performances there gave him recognition in the Wisden Book of 2009 as the top ‘Schoolboy batsman’ which was matched up to that of stars such as Nasser Hussain and Alastair Cook.

He had played 97 First-Class and 30 List-A matches in which he scored 5,197 and 738 runs respectively and claimed a total of 7 domestic wickets.

Debut

Masood’s performances in domestic circuit earned him a call for his Test debut.

On October 14 2014, he made his debut in Tests against South Africa in UAE. The variety of shots in his arsenal left the mighty bowling attack of South Africa with few answers.

He put up a decent score of 75 runs before his dismissal.

Rise to glory

With seven scores in the nervous nineties at the first-class level, Shan was not willing to dally the opportunity of making his maiden hundred in the international arena in the series against the hosts, Sri Lanka.

His marathon innings of 125 helped Pakistan to a historic series win over Sri Lanka in 2015.

Masood had represented his country in whites in 12 matches, in which he made a total of 565 runs.

Low points

His return to Pakistan after his schooling in England, brought with it the harsh reality of the difference a year out can make. Not only was the impetus provided by the U-19 stage lost, he was a forgotten name.

After his debut match in which he gave a scintillating knock of 75, he went into wilderness due to his back to back poor performances.

To cement his place as a reliable opener in the national squad is the need of the hour for Masood.