Harsha Bhogle & Aakash Chopra laud Shan Masood for his brave knock against England

Veteran commentators as well as versatile cricket pundits Harsha Bhogle and Aakash Chopra came forward and lauded Pakistani opening batsman Shan Masood who gave a new lease of life to the Pakistani innings as he held one end tightly when his team lost wickets at regular intervals as he ended up scoring 150 in the first Test against England at the Old Trafford in Manchester. 

'Shandaar Masood'

Taking to the micro-blogging site, Chopra lauded the southpaw by calling him 'Shandaar Masood'.

In another tweet, the former Indian Test opener mentioned that the visiting team showed great character to reach a total of 326 after they had lost half their side for 176.  He then added that 325+ is good but losing 6 for 150 isn’t nice. Furthermore, the cricketer-turned-commentator analyst added that Pakistan had a chance to bat England out of this game but they did not do it.

Meanwhile, Bhogle lauded the excellent performances of both Pakistan and Shan Masood and then mentioned that any runs above 300 will hurt England greatly. At the same time, the 'Voice of Indian Cricket' also added that the visitors should not lose if they get 350 with the bowling side they have picked.

Shan Masood takes Pakistan to a formidable total

The situation was not at all tailormade for the opening batsman by any means as he along with the batting sensation Babar Azam had to rebuild the innings after the visitors were reduced to 43/2. The duo added 96 runs for the third wicket as Pakistan finished Day 1 at 139/2. 

Unfortunately, Day 2 did not start on a good note for the visitors as an in-form Babar Azam was dismissed on the very first over without troubling the scorers and that was a much-needed breakthrough for England. Masood then took matters into his own hands and single-handedly toyed around with the English bowlers. To make things more complicated, he did not get any support from the middle-order as Asad Shafiq and wicket-keeper batsman Mohammad Rizwan were dismissed in quick succession as Pakistan went into the lunch break at 176/5.

Masood received support from all-rounder Shadab Khan lower down the order as the duo added 105 runs for the sixth wicket before Khan was sent back. Jofra Archer then accounted for Yasir Shah and Mohammad Abbas off successive deliveries. Meanwhile, the southpaw soldiered on for the visitors and registered his 150 as Pak went into tea at 312/8.

Nonetheless, Shan Masood was dismissed immediately after tea as he was plumb in front of the wicket by Stuart Broad. The matter was referred upstairs and the decision was made against the batsman. Masood walked back for 156 and helped his team in posting a first-innings total in excess of 300. They were eventually bundled out for 326.