Australia tour opportunity to become big players: Shan Masood advises youngsters

Test cricketer Shan Masood on Sunday said that the silver lining of the difficult tour of Australia is that it offers young players the opportunity to become “big players”.

Pakistan’s T20I and Test rosters have half a dozen debutants and four teenagers, which has led some to say that they are in for a baptism of fire Down Under.

Masood, however, sees the positive side of the challenge, telling GEO News in Karachi on Sunday that “the tour of Australia is an opportunity for young players to emerge as big players.”

“All big players at one point had taken the field as youngsters,” he added in a bid to bolster the confidence of his teenage teammates such as Muhammad Musa Khan, Naseem Shah and others.

The last time Pakistan had played a Test series in Australia during the 2016-17 season, they had the services of the uber experienced Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq.

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With Younis long retired and Misbah now the head coach, the scoring responsibility will have to be shared by others. And Masood says he is up for the challenge.

“I will try and perform my responsibilities, especially turning 50s into centuries,” he said. “Whatever I learned on the tour of South Africa [last year], I will try and implement that.”

Like Babar Azam had a few days earlier, Masood also paid a tribute to Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked in the aftermath of the disastrous Sri Lanka home series.

“I always found Sarfaraz as a leader, and personally I will feel his absence in Australia,” he said.