Shan urges Multan batsmen to capitalise on good start

KARACHI: Multan Sultans seasoned opener Shan Masood said that they will have to ensure they get benefit of the proper start in batting.

“Probably we were playing the best opposition in the tournament. Islamabad United have turned it around here. The important thing was that despite taking a fine start we did not finish it well. And that’s something which we have to address,” Shan said after Multan Sultans were beaten by Islamabad United on Saturday.

However he credited the bowlers for the way they took it deep while defending the 150-run target. “Defending 150, bowlers bowled well as they took the game to the second last ball of the game. We did well in the field. Once you get a good start it is the responsibility of the batsmen to play the entire 20 overs,” said Shan, who hit a blistering 37-ball 59 to enable Multan Sultans to set a target of 150 for United.

When asked whether the long tail is a concern for them, Shan said: “Look, the last four games which we won also played this tail. Luckily, it is a blessing in disguise that it was a kind of no contest as we just had to keep in mind the run rate and on that front we got a warning sign and I think it’s good thing before the qualifier that you know about your weaknesses and you are to take the responsibility,” Shan said.

“There are two things. If you see Lahore Qalandars’ last year they had won one game from five and they bounced back with four straight wins to qualify for the playoffs. And in the end they beat us in the eliminator. And we had also got the taste that we dominated the original event of the PSL-5. We were going into the knock-out stages with everything and we were probably the best team in the tournament but after Covid break we lost two very close games,” he recalled. “We were lucky that we got a gap, once assembled, our plan was that we were playing a five-game tournament of which we had to win four and I think the team did well and hats-off to every squad member and members of the management,” he said.