Shan Masood focused on playing cricket freely, rather than worrying about past and future

Riding on the back of impressive outings with English county Derbyshire, Shan Masood made a comeback into the Pakistan Test side for their upcoming two-match Test tour to Sri Lanka.

Masood, presently leading Derbyshire in the T20 blast competition, is their highest run-getter, scoring 441 runs from 12 matches at a splendid strike rate of 140.89, including four fifties.

Masood, in an interview with Cricwick, opened up about the approach that has seen him score runs across formats this year.

"In the last two years, especially since October, I have started playing cricket more freely. I go out there and enjoy myself while not worrying about the past and future and that has helped me," Masood said.

"What I'm trying to do is take it a game at a time, a session at a time, just trying to stay in the present," the 32-year-old said.

Masood is also the leading run-scorer in County Championship Division 2 for this side, amassing 991 runs from seven games with three hundred and four half-centuries.

The left-hander started the year with an impressive performance for the Multan Sultans (MS) franchise in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022, where he scored 478 runs from 12 T20s.

Masood last played for Pakistan in the whites against New Zealand at Christchurch in the 2020-21 season.

He has so far played 25 Tests, scoring 1,378 runs with 4 red-ball tons to his name.

After being dropped from the Pakistani side, Masood went to South Africa and worked with former India World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten to work on his batting.

The Kuwait-born also credited former Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur for his inputs during his time with the national side.

"He spent three years in Pakistan, and I would say that a lot of my development took place as he is 100 per cent honest, even if it's brutal. That honesty comes from a very good place, from a place where he wants you to do better and expects you to do better," Masood concluded.