Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood confronted a question from the media on Monday citing comparison of statistics between Virat Kohli and Abdullah Shafique and said that the Pakistan opener has better numbers in Test cricket than the Indian batting legend’s initial years.
Masood faced a fiery press conference, where the media questioned his position as a captain and selection of players who have continuously performed below standards.
Pakistan retained Masood as the Test captain for the opening game of home series against England, but criticism of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the selectors grew after the announcement of the Test squad, leading to resignation of selector Mohammad Yousuf.
“Have we still not come out of this liking and disliking in the team?” asked a journalist. “We are continuing to give those (inconsistent) players chances…Shouldn’t (batsman) Kamran Ghulam be given a chance from now on?…Be it Abdullah Shafique or Saim Ayub, the same set of players are playing the T20s and Tests.”
The skipper replied: “With all due respect, I don’t think your question is accurate…I agree that Pakistan hasn’t played good cricket in 2024,” adding that it’s wrong to mix and compare the performances of Tests with T20Is.
“Things should be looked at objectively. You talk about stats. The other day I was reading a stat that Abdullah Shafique, who has played 19 Tests, has a better record than Virat Kohli,” Masood added.
The captain backed his opening batsman by comparing his record in the 19 Tests he has played so far with how Kohli performed in the same number of matches at the start of his career.
While Shafique’s numbers are definitely better than Kohli in 19 Tests, the comparison drawn by Masood grabbed eyeballs. Also, Shafique has played four more innings than Kohli did.
After first 19 Tests:
Virat Kohli: 32 innings, 1178 runs, 40.62 average, 4 hundreds, 6 fifties
Abdullah Shafique: 36 innings, 1372 rus, 40.35 average, 4 hundreds, 5 fifties
Pakistan’s challenge against England begins with the first Test in Multan from October 7.
(Status Courtesy: Rajesh Kumar)