LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has appointed Test captain Shan Masood as Consultant International Cricket and Players’ Affairs, a newly created position encompassing responsibilities previously advertised under the Director International Cricket Operations role, it said on Friday.

According to the job’s advertisement for the latter role, Shan’s appointment is part of the board’s effort to strengthen international cricket operations and enhance coordination between players, management, and global cricketing bodies.

The 36-year-old left-handed batter has represented Pakistan in 44 Tests, nine One-day Internationals, and 19 Twenty20 Internationals, scoring 3,108 international runs, including six Test centuries. He also led Pakistan in 14 Tests, including the recent ICC World Test Championship series against South Africa, and guided the national side to a 2-1 home series win over England last year — Pakistan’s first against England on home soil since 2005.

The PCB announcement press release, however, did not mention whether Shan would continue as captain while holding the new role.

In the current tenure of board’s chairman Mohsin Naqvi, dual roles have become common, with Aaqib Javed (selector and Director High-performance), Wahab Riaz (selector and senior team manager), and Aleem Dar (selector and field umpire) among the examples.

A PCB spokesperson told Dawn said that as Consultant, there would be no bar on Shan continuing as captain.

Shan has led Pakistan in 14 Test matches, winning four and losing 10. Under his leadership, Pakistan suffered a 2-0 home series defeat against Bangladesh last year.

Despite the setbacks, Shan was retained as captain, while Babar Azam (all three formats), Mohammad Rizwan (ODIs), and Shaheen Shah Afridi (T20Is) were all replaced as captains in the past couple of years.

It may be mentioned that the PCB had recently advertised the post of Director International Cricket on its website, inviting applications until.

The newly created consultancy position appears to mirror several of the same functions, including planning, organising, and overseeing Pakistan’s international tours, handling negotiations, and ensuring compliance with ICC and PCB codes and policies.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2025