Shan Masood

Born in Kuwait but chose to represent the nation of his ancestry, Shan Masood is a classy left-handed opener who plays professional cricket for Pakistan national team.

Masood made his first-class debut playing for Hyderabad against the Karachi Whites on October 21, 2007 and scored his maiden fifty on debut. After a few mouth-watering domestic seasons, Shan made it to the international stage in 2013. He made his Test debut against South Africa on October 14, 2013 and announced his debut with a maiden half-century in which the Men in Green rattled the Proteas.

After getting just three matches in two years under his belt, Shan’s maiden Test-century came against Sri Lanka in 2015 proved his naysayers as Pakistan successfully chased 382 against Sri Lanka.

Not preferred in the limited-overs format, he was included in Pakistan’s ODI squad for the 2018 Asia Cup but didn’t get the opportunity to play. Shan’s moment finally came when he made his ODI debut during Pakistan and Australia's tour of the UAE in 2019. The cricketer was a failure in the squad as Australia whitewashed Pakistan in that series. However, he was regularly picked in the Test squad and repaid the faith shown in him by hitting another century in a famous series win against Sri Lanka at their home ground in 2019.

Masood’s career-defining moment came when he impressed every cricket fan around the world where he became the first-opener since Saeed Anwar since 1996 to hit a century in the opening match of the series against England at Old Trafford.

Bad form and his technical incapabilities against fast bowlers have kept Shan juggling in and out of the squad, but his promising nature to deliver at the big stages have always helped the Men in Green in crucial matches.

(As of March 2021)