F.P. Report
LAHORE: The newly-appointed Test skipper, Shan Masood, was upgraded from Category D to B in the Pakistan Cricket Board’s central contract list.
Masood had recently taken over the helm of the Pakistan Test side from Babar Azam and the 34-year-old is due to lead Pakistan for a three-game series against Australia, starting Dec 14.
This call was taken in line with the board’s policy that if a centrally contracted player below A or B categories were to be appointed captain, then their contract should be upgraded to category B for their tenure.
The left-handed top-order batter was recently named full-time captain and has featured in 30 Tests, scoring 15,97 runs at an average of 28.5 with four tons to his name.
Pakistan are currently No1 on the World Test Championship table, having defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in a series in July.
The first Test commences in Perth from Dec 14 to 18, followed by the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne from Dec 26 and the series concludes with the third Test in Sydney from Jan 3 to 7.
