This is such a huge honor for me: Shan Masood

Pakistani top order batter Shan Masood said leading Derbyshire Falcons in the Vitality T20 Blast 2022 tournament is an honour for him and a proud moment for Pakistan Cricket.

In an exclusive chat with Geo. tv at The Incora County Ground in Derby, Masood described the feeling of getting his name alongside the Pakistan legend Wasim Akram.

Masood became only the second Pakistani after great Wasim Akram to lead a county team in the T20 tournament when he led Derbyshire in their first game of the tournament against Birmingham Bears on May 27. 

In 2003, Akram achieved the honour of leading an English county team when he led Hampshire.

"This is such a huge honour for me that my name is now spoken along with great Wasim Akram's name, but these things do happen in life, and we should be thankful," said Shan Masood in an exclusive interview with Geo. tv.

"All 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," 

Masood, the Multan Sultans' all-time leading Pakistan Super League run-scorer, has experience leading in T20 cricket in his home country as he led Multan Sultans in the fifth season of the Pakistan Super League. However, in the next season, he was replaced by wicketkeeper batter Mohammad Rizwan.

"If we see the stature of Pakistan Super League, it's 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,"

"Captaining 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,"

Derbyshire has a coaching staff including Mickey Arthur as their head of cricket, and Ian Bell and Ajmal Shahzadbin, their backroom staff and the Falcons skipper, were all in praise for the Club's team management.

"The setup Mickey Arthur has developed, and the environment he has provided us here at Derbyshire CCC is very close to international standards," he stated.

On May 24, Masood was named the captain of Derbyshire Falcons. He was also voted as PCA's Player of the Month.

His first season in English cricket got off to a scintillating start, scoring 844 runs from nine County Championship innings, including three centuries, two of which passed 200.