KARACHI: Pakistan’s opening batsman Shan Masood said on Wednesday that he has become a better players after the challenges and criticism that he faced early on in his career and he is now focussing on his game and feels confident about his future in Pakistan team.

“To be honest, I used to get quite bothered during my initial struggle as a player and the criticism I faced in my early career, but now i have learned to ignore such comments and am focussing on my game,” said Shan while speaking to the media through a video link on Wednesday.

Tall and lanky Shan who captained PSL’s franchise Multan Sultan in season five, further said: “We need consistency and long term planning for better results. The players need regular chances to build on their confidence and to improve on their game.”

“Some of the current world class players like Rohit Sharma and Jason Roy also took a considerable time to find their feet. But due to consistent chances given to them by their teams, they matured into fantastic players,” observed Shan.

Reflecting on his career so far, Shan said his perfomance in South Africa against a very good pace attack really boosted his confidence.

“That Test series against South Africa was so crucial for me,” he recalled. “I concentrated hard and played with lot of determination and longer stay at the wicket really helped me to accumulate runs against a high quality bowling attack. That lifted my morale and gave me confidence.”

Shan termed fitness as the key for success in modern cricket. “The players should maintain fitness all the year round to achieve more success in international cricket,” he said.

Commenting on the domestic cricket system, Shan said the decision to revamp it lies with the PCB but he personally learned a lot from department cricket model.

“At the start of my career i learned a lot from department-based cricket which gave me chance to brush shoulders with top class cricketers in a good, professional environment. That really helped me to become a good cricketer. I have heard the PCB is planning a window for departments in domestic cricket which i think will be a good step,” he said.

“In the prevailing situation we may be forced to play cricket in closed doors. But I will be happy to play and I am sure my teammates will be ready too because sitting idle ins no option really,” he concluded.

Published in Dawn, April 23rd, 2020