Time for Shan Masood to shine!

He was perhaps the outstanding batsman in the South Africa series. Now is his time to showcase his talents in white ball cricket. The opener should be getting at least 3 chances during the course of 5 match series.

Over the past two years, he has enhanced his range as a limited overs openers. His game against pace was quite good. However, he has also added new shots in his arsenal against spinners. The so called modern day shots helped him play a couple of decent knocks in the PSL. His average of 56 complemented by strike rate of 82 in List A games show that he is perhaps a better limited overs openers.

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On the other end would be a settled Imam ul Haq, coming off a very good PSL season. That should help Masood as the duo had a decent partnership or two in South Africa too. Pakistan played a wild card in the Champions Trophy and introduced Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali as openers. This time around, Fakhar and Imam look to be the preferred choice. At number 3, Babar Azam looks set to occupy the position for years. However, with a decent series here, Shan Masood can cement his place as a back-up opener. With the flick nature of our team selection and in English condition, opening slots can open up fairly quickly.