Shan Masood has finally stepped up with the bat in his sixth Test as the captain of the Pakistan cricket team. He scored his first century while at the helm of the team in the longest format of the game in the ongoing first Test against England in Multan. For the unversed, Pakistan opted to bat first after winning the toss but lost their opener Saim Ayub with just eight runs on the board.
The Pakistan captain walked out to bat at number three and opted for an aggressive approach right from the word go. England were least expecting this it seems as they looked deflated. Masood played his shots taking advantage of the serene batting conditions. For once, Pakistan looked like a refreshed team with a fresh approach to batting taking the attack to the opposition especially what transpired against Bangladesh a month ago.
Masood led from the front with the bat and notched up the second-fastest century in Tests by a Pakistan captain ever only behind Misbah-ul-Haq who had done it in just 56 deliveries against Australia in Abu Dhabi back in 2014. This was the fifth century for Masood in the format and the first since August 2020 which had also come against England.
Shan Masood's centuries in Test cricket
| Century | Runs | Opposition | Year |
| 1 | 125 | Sri Lanka | 2015 |
| 2 | 135 | Sri Lanka | 2019 |
| 3 | 100 | Bangladesh | 2020 |
| 4 | 156 | England | 2020 |
| 5 | 130* | England | 2024 |
It has been a stop-start Test career in terms of scoring runs for Shan Masood. His first ton in the format came way back in 2015 against Sri Lanka and it took four years and five months more for him to notch up his second ton which also came against Sri Lanka. Interestingly, his second, third and fourth Test century came in consecutive innings.
However, Masood had to wait for four years again for his fifth 100-plus score in the whites for Pakistan. It came at the right time for him as well as questions were being raised on his position in the team. Now that he has broken the second-longest drought of his career for a century, Masood will be keen to go big in this innings to put Pakistan in a strong position.
