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During a press conference ahead of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home, Shan Masood, the Pakistan Test captain, rubbished a claim from a journalist about match-fixing within his team. The comment was posed to the 34-year-old after a plethora of reports regarding factionalism in the Pakistan dressing room emerged in the aftermath of a disastrous T20 World Cup 2024.
As per the report from India Today, a journalist wanted to know from Shan Masood about his message to the Pakistan cricket team after Arshad Nadeem won a gold medal in athletics for the nation at the Paris Olympics 2024. The journalist also said to the Pakistan Test captain about how glory to the nation can reward athletes much more in comparison to match-fixing.
In response, Shan Masood said that he isn’t there to question the intention of his players while playing for Pakistan. The left-handed batter also remarked that nobody in the world can question the integrity of his players, while not agreeing with the match-fixing statement from the journalist.
I can’t question anybody’s intention as you used the word match fixing: Shan Masood
He said, “I can’t question anybody’s intention as you used the word match fixing. I don’t think in the current setup of Pakistan cricket, nobody can question their integrity. It’s something which I don’t agree with at all. Secondly, World Cup is past now and we need to look forward. I can guarantee all our players want to win matches for Pakistan but wins and losses are there and we’re the saddest whenever we lose.”
Shan Masood also went on to call Arshad Nadeem a national hero, while hoping to see others in Pakistan get inspired from him to bring more glory to the nation. “As you spoke about Arshad Nadeem, he’s a national hero. What he’s achieved now, it has further catapulted him to a greater stature and we’re very happy about that. We’ll take inspiration from Arshad Nadeem’s success and hope to bring in more glory for Pakistan,” he added.
