Pakistan Test opener Shan Masood on Wednesday called for patience and need to give players a long rope in order to produce box-office cricketers like Rohit Sharma, Jason Roy and David Warner.
Masood was part of Pakistan’s home series wins against Sri Lanka 1-0 and the one-off Test against Bangladesh after they lost in Australia 0-2 in the five-day format.
Asked how Pakistan can also produce box-office openers like India’s Rohit, England’s Roy and Australia’s Warner, he said: “There is fear of failure which is human nature. They got security over a long time. The England team started with a plan in 2015 and got result in 2019. They stuck to a core of players.
“Consistency is very important. We need to accept defeat if we have to set a goal like that. As a nation we focus on short-term goals. Instant results cannot be the way to groom players,” said the 30-year old in a video conference chat with reporters.
“Also these cricketers you named got advantage of home cricket. We never got that. This is for the first time we got. We don’t get to play that often also. For box office players you need consistency. We need to build players for a four-year period.”
Masood also said he is not worried about being labelled as Test player, saying he has the right kind of people around him to guide.
He also said this team under coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq is going in the right direction and results will soon start showing.
“Misbah bhai is trying to bring in new culture. Fitness is being given a lot of importance. During this lockdown also players are being worked on. A lot of things is being done. Also culture is there...camaraderie is there among players and I hope as soon as cricket resumes we can carve out a legacy for ourselves. We hope to make a mark.”