Chief selector Mohammad Wasim apprises about Shan Masood's comeback in white-ball setup

Pakistan Cricket Board chief selector of the men's side Mohammad Wasim revealed that Shan Masood is close to getting selected for the white-ball squads in the near future.

Speaking to journalist Waheed Khan on his YouTube channel, the chief selector of the Pakistan national men's side said that the selection committee is considering another spot for him on the side.

"Shan Masood isn't far away from the Pakistan team. He is a part of the red-ball squad as the third opener, and he's close to the white-ball squads," said Wasim on the YouTube show.

Pakistan are a dominant white-ball team due to their top order players like white-ball skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, and Fakhar Zaman. Pakistan's top order is occupied and because of this Masood has been on the fringes, but he could be given an opportunity to play at another position.

"Our problem is that we have a top-heavy lineup in white-ball cricket. Our next consideration is perhaps giving him a chance at another position [in the white ball setup] and I've been in touch with Shan about that."

The ex-Pakistan cricketer revealed that Masood could be tried in the middle order slot but there was a ‘lack of evidence’ behind this idea.

"You want a player to play at his usual number in an ideal situation. However, because of how Shan is performing and how we're struggling in the middle order, there is a chance that he could fit there in the future. But we lack evidence to support this idea."

"We haven't seen Shan play that role previously, so can we try this experiment at the international level? Ideally, we wait for him to perform in some domestic tournament or league in the middle order to have some evidence for it," the 44-year-old former batter stated. 

Masood is currently a part of the Test squad as a third opener after Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique. 

He has been one of the leading run-scorers in the County Championship for his club Derbyshire. So far in the competition, Masood stands second on the list of the highest run-getters with 844 runs, whereas Ben Compton tops the chart with 878 runs.

And currently, the 32-year-old is captaining Derbyshire in the ongoing T20 Blast. 

Wasim said that he's in touch with Masood and his comeback in the limited-overs setup is in consideration.

"I have been in touch with him about this, and he's on board with the idea. It's something under consideration."