In a bizarre and shocking move, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) nominated under-fire Test captain Shan Masood for a prestigious role alongside India’s chief selector Ajit Agarkar and former head coach Ravi Shastri. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday formed a jury to pick the greatest international cricketers of the last 25 years, and Masood has been named as the second Pakistani in the panel alongside the legendary Wasim Akram.
The baffling move raised eyebrows in the cricketing circle, but a report by the news agency PTI said Masood was nominated on the PCB’s suggestion when the jury was being finalised. And this has been despite his disastrous record as a Test captain, which includes the defeat in the opening Test of the ongoing two-game series in Bangladesh.
Since taking over the role in 2023, Pakistan lost 11 Tests out of 15. That is the joint second-most losses by a Pakistan Test captain, alongside Inzamam-ul-Haq, who recorded the same number in 31 matches. Misbah-ul-Haq still holds the unwanted record with 19 defeats in 56 Tests, despite also registering the most wins (26) as Pakistan captain. While he has yet to win an away game, losing on all six occasions, all his four wins during his captaincy tenure thus far came at home – two against England cricket team in 2024, which remains the only series he has won as captain, one against the West Indies cricket team in 2025, and another against South Africa national cricket team last October.
This is not the first time PCB has handed Masood a crucial role. Last year, he was offered the post of Director International Cricket and Players Affairs, but he turned it down as he wanted to complete the ICC World Test Championship cycle as captain. Sources confirmed that the skipper is likely to accept the ICC Jury role “due to his strong educational background and cricket experience.”
Besides the aforementioned four, the Jury will also comprise Irfan Pathan and Cheteshwar Pujara from India, along with, David Gower, Ian Bishop, Mark Boucher, Carlos Braithwaite, Tom Moody, Greg Chappell, Matthew Hayden, Aaron Finch, Andrew Flower, Allan Donald, Faf du Plessis. Daniel Vettori, Ross Taylor, Shane Watson, Jonathan Trott, Tim Southee, Eoin Morgan.
