Yorkshire and Pakistan captain Shan Masood was the standout batsman for his country when they lost a thrilling second Test to Australia at the MCG earlier this week.

His pair of half-centuries mean he is very much in form for 2024, when Yorkshire head coach Ottis Gibson expects him to feature heavily for the county.

When moving from Derbyshire ahead of last summer, Masood signed a two-year overseas contract at Headingley, but Yorkshire knew he would be missing at times for international duty.

Yet Pakistan’s 2024 schedule is ideal for Yorkshire in truth.

After this December-January series against Australia, their Test side face West Indies, Bangladesh, England and South Africa.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Shan Masood, pictured batting for Pakistan against England in 2020, will be hoping to lead his side to a home series win over Ben Stokes' tourists next October.Shan Masood, pictured batting for Pakistan against England in 2020, will be hoping to lead his side to a home series win over Ben Stokes' tourists next October. (Image: PA.)

But the only one of those four series to fall in the English summer comes when Bangladesh travel to Pakistan in August for two Tests.

Masood is not currently involved in Pakistan’s limited-overs plans.

Speaking to Yorkshire’s website about how he anticipates Masood balancing his international commitments with his domestic ones over the next 12 months, Gibson said: “I’ve spoken to Shan, and he doesn’t seem to think that the Test captaincy will affect his availability for us too much.

“Pakistan have a short series during our summer, but the rest of their Test cricket is at the back end of the year.”

Gibson added: “To be captain of your country is a big deal.

“The fact that he’s Yorkshire captain and now is the captain of Pakistan, to me that is a big deal, and I’m absolutely delighted for him.”

Gibson is also of the belief that Masood’s role as Yorkshire skipper will stand him in good stead when it comes to leading his country.

He said: “I think the domestic captaincy will help him going forward as a Test captain.

“Here at Yorkshire, he is having to build relationships and find out how to get the best out of our players.

“He will know the Pakistan players much more, but he is still finding ways to get the best out of them. 

“He is developing a captaincy style, so the more he can do it the better.”

Masood hit 54 in Pakistan’s first innings of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, then top scored with 60 on day four as they tried to chase down 317 to win.

But the tourists collapsed from 219-5 to 237 all out, losing by 79 runs as a result.