LAHORE: Out-of-favour Pakistan opener Shan Masood refused to be a part of the Pakistan Shaheens team which played a practice match against the national side before its tour to the Netherlands.

Shan was not happy to play for the Shaheens and wanted to be included in the senior team, Dawn has learnt. The left-hander, who has been enjoying an immense run of form since last year, was in contention for the Netherlands tour as his passport was sought for visa processing.

However, being asked to play for the Shaheens instead of Pakistan might have displeased him as he left the camp to play county cricket in England, sources said.

Young opener Abdullah Shafique’s consistent performances for the Pakistan Test side since the opener made his debut against Bangladesh this year is said to have pushed Shan, 32, out of favour.

Shan, however, has been ignored despite amassing hundreds of runs across all three formats. After finding his form in the 2021-22 Quaid-e-Azam, in which he averaged 71.71, Shan was third in the batting charts of the 2022 Pakistan Super League, hitting 478 run in 12 outings for runners-up Multan Sultans.

The left-hander is also the fourth-highest run-scorer in the ongoing County Championship with over a thousand runs in eight matches.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2022