Shan Masood to continue as captain of Pakistan in current World Test Championship cycle

‌Shan Masood was retained as the captain of the Pakistan Test side despite having a poor run in the previous World Test Championship cycle. Masood and red-ball coach Azhar Mahmood had met the Pakistan Cricket Board chief Mohsin Naqvi, with the governing body standing firmly behind the current skipper.

Speculations were rife that Pakistan would get a new Test skipper after the side finished at the bottom of the points table in the WTC 2023-25 cycle. With Masood captaining the team throughout the cycle, they could notch up only five wins in the 14 matches played and finished with a low percentile score of 27.98. He was even demoted from category B to D, the lowest in the central contract hierarchy, when players’ contracts for 2025-26 were announced.

But the PCB released a statement placing complete confidence in his leadership and gave him and coach Mahmood a free hand in the Test side. The left-handed batter had a decent run with the bat during the WTC 2023-25 cycle, scoring 880 runs, including two hundreds and five fifties, from 14 matches at an average of 33.84.

Masood and Mahmood’s first assignment in the new cycle will be a two-match home series against South Africa. The first Test is set to take place at Lahore from October 12, while the second game is slated to start in Rawalpindi on October 20.