How American pop band Maroon 5 helped Shan Masood face Australia’s fast bowlers

Facing the fiery and pumped-up trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Pat Cummins can make the most prolific of batsmen nervous and jittery. However, for the Pakistan opener Shan Masood, tackling the Australian speed demons needed little assistance from American pop rock band Maroon 5.

In an exclusive interview with BBC, Shan Masood revealed how he countered Australia’s pacers, at the GABBA last year, by continuously singing the chart-buster 'Memories' in his head in order to let the nerves settle.

“Whenever I’m batting, there’s always a song in my head. One I remember vividly was when I was at the Gabba – facing Australia’s Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood. That was always going to be a feisty battle so I kept a slow song, I kept singing Memories by Maroon 5 just to calm myself down," recalled Shan Masood.

There is always a song in my head when I am batting: Shan Masood

Despite the ball beating the bat on several occasions, Shan Masood managed to survive against Mitchell Starc in the Test. However, the damage was done by Pat Cummins who struck gold by scalping the southpaw's wicket in both innings, restricting Shan Masood to a mere 27 and 42 in his two gritty outings.

In the next Test at Adelaide, the southpaw battled it out for a longer spell of time and scored a gutsy 68. While Pakistan lost the series 2-0, the 30-year-old cemented his slot for the home season - scoring consecutive tons against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh - and sealing the opener’s slot for himself ahead of the England tour.

Shan Masood is currently a part of Pakistan's playing XI for the third Test against England. With the series on the line, the southpaw will be banked on to produce the goods at the top and challenge a strong England bowling unit.