Waqar Younis on Naseem Shah: “A classic action, gets into the crease very nicely. He’s got a perfect run-up, gets side-on really nicely”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Naseem Shah has a classic bowling action and a “perfect run-up”, Pakistan reverse swing specialist Waqar Younis said.
The 19-year-old is one of the country’s brightest talents and has shown just how good he can be in all three formats of the game.
Having become increasingly reliable, Naseem is starting to be used more often in limited overs cricket. Initially, he was only picked in Test cricket, but having grabbed his opportunity in ODIs and T20Is, the teenager is being given more responsibility and becoming a key member of Pakistan’s pace attack.
“A classic action, gets into the crease very nicely. He’s got a perfect run-up, gets side-on really nicely,” Waqar, who used to be the national team’s bowling coach, said in a video as quoted by Cricwick.
Naseem recently featured in the three-Test series against England, but was only limited to one match as he suffered a shoulder injury.
He returned to play one out of the two Tests against New Zealand, where he took four wickets.
In the first ODI on Monday, which Pakistan won by six wickets, he finished with figures of 5-57 off his 10 overs and was named Man of the Match.
Overall, the talented teenager has picked up 15 wickets in four ODIs at an average of 11.20.
The second ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand will be held on Wednesday in Karachi.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand ODI series: Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Agha Salman, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir