PAK vs ENG: Shan Masood Set To Be Sacked From Captaincy Role, Three Players Lined Up to Take Over - Report

Shan Masood is reportedly set to be sacked as Pakistan Test captain following the series against England after dismal run of results since taking over the role late last year.

The 34-year-old was appointed the captain of the Pakistan Test team after Babar Azam had stepped down from the role in 2023. Masood has since captained the team that has suffered six defeats in six matches.

On Friday (October 11), Pakistan suffered their third successive loss on home soil in the current World Test Championship cycle, having handed a humiliating 0-2 white-wash by Bangladesh earlier this year in August-September.

Following an innings and 47-run loss to England in Multan in the first of three Test matches, reports surfaced that Shan Masood could be removed from the captaincy role after the series.

According to a report in Pakistan's Samaa TV, Masood will be relieved from his captaincy role after the completion of the England series and three players have already been lined up to replace him.

The report further added that, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan, batter Saud Shakeel and all-rounder Salman Ali Agha will be among the candidates to take over the captaincy for Pakistan's next Test assignment after the England series.

Shan Masood Captaincy Record

Matches: 6
Won: 0
Lost: 6
Win Percentage: 0%
Runs: 448 in 12 innings
Average: 37.33
Highest Score: 151 vs England in Multan (2024)
50s: 3
100s: 1

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made changes to their selection panel, adding former umpire Aleem Dar as well as former players Aqib Javed, Azhar Ali and Hasan Cheema as voting members of the selection committee.

The selectors will be tasked with taking a call on the captain for the national team, after Babar Azam also recently stepped down from the role of the white-ball teams.

Coming back to the Multan Test, Shan Masood scored 151 in the first innings, but threw away his wicket in the second innings for just 11 as his team fell to an innings defeat. Babar also cointinued his wretched run with the bat, scoring 30 and 5 in the Test.

At the presentation ceremony, Masood pinpointed the reason for his team's failure to win games despite posting big totals in one of their innings.

"I wouldn't say my team is mentally weak but we expected this pitch to break by the third day onwards that is why we prolonged our innings. But at the end of the day you have to find ways to take 20 wickets and we are not doing that in recent times," Masood said.

The Pakistan skipper admitted that the team was not learning from its mistakes and repeating them again and again.

"We can't blame anyone but ourselves. Where we made lapses they didn't and capitalised on their opportunities. The pitch character did change on the fourth day when we came to bat as some cracks had opened up and there was a little something for the bowlers with the new ball," Masood added.