Pakistan’s opening batsman Shan Masood has admitted that there was a little rustiness among the players on day 1 of the three-Test series opener against England, but they consider themselves very fortunate for being able to play cricket amidst the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic.
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Well, Pakistan didn’t have a great start as they lost two wickets before crossing the 50-run mark in the opening day of the first Test, but Masood and Babar Azam’s brilliant batting show managed to get the tourists back on to track on the rain-hit Day one in Manchester.
Shan and Babar stitched together a 96-run partnership to take Pakistan to 139/2 at Stump on Day 1 and the latter said there is no better thing than to play for the country.
Masood said: “We consider ourselves very fortunate that even during these sad times, amid this pandemic, we have actually got to play the game we all love. There is no better thing than to play for your country. We have been practicing for the last month but playing international cricket is always different. There was a little rustiness among the players because we haven’t played for three months.”
Lauding Azam, the opener said he has always enjoyed batting with him. He further added, “I’ve always enjoyed batting with Babar Azam and there’s no doubt that it’s a good thing for Pakistan that we have a batsman in our side who ranks among the top batsmen in the world, in all three formats.”
However, Masood said it was challenging to play amid rain disruptions.
He signed off by saying, “As a team, being in that stop-start position is not always easy because you have to switch on, switch off, and switch on back again. These are the challenges of Test cricket, especially in England where we all know about the weather.”
(With PTI Inputs)
