Naseem Shah Steps Up In Shaheen's Absence

19 years and into only his 14th Test, Naseem Shah has already gone through a lot. In his small career, Naseem Shah has seen a struggle in Australia to start his Test career. He was picked for the tour after impressing with his express pace but went on see Pakistan struggle in the nation.

His career though started going uphill as he saw success in Test Cricket, three tests in. Facing Sri Lanka at home, he took a five for to prove his worth, following which he constantly came up with some interesting contributions. He has a Test hat-trick at home and also took a four for against Australia last year as the other bowlers struggled on a flat pitch.

With Shaheen Shah Afridi struggling for fitness over the last six months, Naseem Shah come up well. In Test Cricket, he was the pick of the bowlers against Sri Lanka at Galle. It was the first incident where he led the attack, and he did a really good job on a track taking considerable turn. The months following that Test were some of his best.

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Shaheen Shah Afridi’s injury saw Naseem Shah get into the white-ball teams. In both white-ball formats he impressed early. While his ODI career is only 3 games old, with those three coming against Netherlands, the T20I career is a lot more impressive. He made his debut in an Asia Cup encounter against India, and bowled with a lot of courage despite hobbling and struggling with cramps through his final over.

He was trusted to keep his place, and despite looking inconsistent through his first few games, Naseem Shah adjusted and grew well. He matured and came up with one of the best wicketless spells in the World Cup Finals, highlighting his strength as the spearhead in the side. In the First Test at Rawalpindi too, Naseem Shah came in as Pakistan’s most experienced bowler. On the other side, a 40 year old James Anderson with 176 Test caps leads the England bowling attack highlighting the difference in experience.

With Haris Rauf walking off injured, Naseem had more work to do. He responded handsomely, bowling a really good spell on the second day with no support from the pitch. He responded with some sharp bouncers, and was easily the pick of the bowlers again.

Naseem Shah’s career has been a very small one. He however has gone through a lot and threatened to fade away as well at certain stages of his career, while other moments made one wonder if he was the next big thing in Pakistan Cricket. In 2017, he made his debut after losing a parent. A debut in Australia is often very challenging and has seen some cricketers lose their careers early. Naseem threatened to lose his then and later struggled with a back injury to put more pressure on his future.

He is now back as a grown cricketer. He had a county stint and is now leading the Pakistan attack. Leading the attack has also allowed him to take the new-ball, something he does not do when Shaheen is around, as Naseem often comes in first change. He is still a teenager, but his performances make one believe that Naseem Shah is here to stay.