Pakistan’s Test captain Shan Masood entered his name in the history books by scoring the fastest double century by a Pakistani batter in first-class cricket.
He broke former Pakistan skipper Inzamam Ul Haq’s three-decade old record by slamming a double hundred in 177 balls while playing for Sui Northern Gas against Sahar Associates on the first day of the ongoing President’s Cup departmental tournament.
Previously, the record was held by former skipper Inzamam, who had scored a double hundred from 188 balls in a tour match in England in 1992.
Masood was unbeaten on 212 from 185 balls at close on day one of the match on Sunday.
The record for the fastest double hundred by a visiting batsman is still held by India’s Virender Sehwag who scored a double century from 182 balls in the Lahore Test in 2006.
Masood recently turned down an offer from the Pakistan Cricket Board to become a full-time Director of International Cricket and Players Relations to focus on the World Test Championship and his career.
The Board wanted him to cut short his career to accept the full time post after appointing him consultant of international cricket and players relations this year.
PCB to manage Multan Sultans
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has confirmed that the governing body will manage the Multan Sultans franchise in the next edition of the Pakistan Super League.
Naqvi said due to time constraints the board would appoint a team headed by a former cricketer to run the Multan franchise during PSL 11.
“We will (form the committee) after the PSL puts up the Multan Sultan’s team for auction,” Naqvi told the media here.
This is the first time since the league was launched in 2016 that the board will be directly running a franchise, raising questions over this move which could endanger the reputation of the PSL as a brand.
The previous owner of the Multan side, Ali Tareen, surprisingly has been allowed to bid for one of the two new teams in the league in the auction to be held on January 8.
Tareen left the ownership of the Multan franchise, the most expensive in the PSL, a few weeks back citing differences with the PCB and accusing the board of ghosting him when his franchise asked for the renewal contract to be sent after the valuation process.
When asked about whether Tareen was going to be part of the final auction for the new teams, Naqvi said he has done a lot of work on Multan Sultans.
“Unfortunately, whatever happened is an issue I don’t want to discuss. But technically, we will absolutely welcome him. If he wants to take a new team, he should definitely take it,” said Naqvi.
The five other existing franchises in the PSL renewed their agreements with the board some weeks back but Multan was not given the option of reconsidering the renewal of their contract after the board sent Tareen a legal notice for constantly breaching the contract.
Naqvi claimed they could have put up the Multan franchise for sale but had to abide by strict Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, a government body.
“There is a lot of interest in [Multan Sultans] right now,” noted Naqvi. “But in Pakistan, there are PPRA rules that have to be followed that is why we have decided to manage it ourselves for one season.”
Multan was paying an annual franchise fee of $6.35 million to the PCB.
Naqvi announced that former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram has been appointed as the PSL’s brand ambassador and the bowling great will take on the post formally on January 1.