DERBY
\nPakistani Test cricketer and opening batsman Shan Masood has said captaining Derbyshire Falcons in the T20 Blast tournament is an honour for him and a proud moment for the Pakistani cricket fraternity.
\nThe left-handed batsman, who is playing for Derbyshire CCC in this year\u2019s county championship, was made the captain of their T20 team after a brilliant performance in the first round of the tournament, where he scored the second-highest runs.
\nEarlier, Masood, who is playing for the first time in the county championship, broke the record of most runs scored in the month of April, for his stellar effort he revived PCA\u2019s \u201cPlayer of the Month Award\u201d.
\nSpeaking exclusively to Geo.tv at The Incora County Ground in Derby, Masood \u2014 the second Pakistani after great Wasim Akram to lead a county team in the T20 tournament \u2014 termed leading the team a huge responsibility.
\n\u201cThis is such a huge honour for me that my name is now spoken along with great Wasim Akram\u2019s name, but these things do happen in life and we should be thankful\u201d, said Masood.
\n\u201cAll I have to do is lead from the front, play good cricket, get desired results, and set an example of a good human being so our country gets a positive reflection\u201d.
\nMasood has also captained Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League\u2019s season six in 2021 before he was replaced by Mohammad Rizwan. Talking about that experience, Masood said that any such experience in the field is vital as PSL is now one of the biggest leagues in the world.
\n\u201cIf we see the stature of Pakistan Super League, it\u2019s probably the second biggest and successful T20 league currently in the world where standards of cricket are very high. So captaining a team like Multan Sultans in that has definitely given me enormous experience\u201d.
\nMasood told Geo.tv that leading Falcons in the Blast is a golden opportunity as this will give him more exposure to the playing conditions in England and mix that with the experience he\u2019s gained by capturing Multan Sultans.
\n\u201cCaptaining Derbyshire Falcons now is a great opportunity for me to gain more experience and expertise. In white-ball format England is considered the best team in the world at the moment therefore to come here and play and see how cricket is played here is a great learning experience\u201d.
\nTalking about the trust Derbyshire CCC coach Mickey Arthur has shown in him, Masood said that this healthy working relationship with the South African coach has developed over the past many years and he\u2019s ready to respond to that trust with good results.
\n\u201cI\u2019m trying my best to play my part and fulfil my responsibilities on day to day basis, work on my weaknesses whether as a player or as a captain. When you\u2019re leading a team you get to learn new things every day so that the mistakes you\u2019ll make are not repeated next time\u201d.
\nMasood said that he\u2019s very fortunate that Arthur not only has provided him with a strong backroom staff with the likes of Ian Bell and Ajmal Shahzad in the coaching department but also in other departments like physical fitness and technical analysis.
\n\u201cThe setup Mickey Arthur has developed and the environment he has provided us here at Derbyshire CCC is very close to international standards\u201d.
\nIn the first game as a captain against Birmingham Bears his opposite number was Carlos Brathwaite and both players were part of the Multan Sultans squad in PSL 6.
\nSpeaking about the interaction with Carlos on the field, Masood said he enjoyed playing against him.
\n\u201cI had developed a very good relationship when we were together playing for Multan Sultans. He\u2019s is a great friend on and off the field a brilliant team man. In modern days cricket, these are the happy interactions you are always looking forward to\u201d.
\n\u201cThis is the beauty of cricket these days when you play in different leagues around the globe for different franchises you get a chance to meet propel from different countries and get to know about different cultures\u201d, further added Masood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DERBY Pakistani Test cricketer and opening batsman Shan Masood has said captaining Derbyshire Falcons in the T20 Blast tournament is an honour for him and a proud moment for the Pakistani cricket fraternity. The left-handed batsman, who is playing for Derbyshire CCC in this year\u2019s county championship, was made the captain of their T20 team […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,8062,6298],"class_list":{"0":"post-264240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-blast","9":"tag-leading-derbyshire-falcons","10":"tag-shan-masood"},"yoast_head":"\n