Mohammad Amir: “[Trent] Boult, he is number one for me, then Naseem Shah. These are bowlers, who I feel are complete bowlers and can play all formats. And third would be Mitchell Starc”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Amir has put fellow Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah rather than Shaheen Shah Afridi in second place on his list of favourite bowlers.
Naseem has become one of Pakistan’s brightest talents despite only being 20 years old.
Currently, he is part of the pace attack in all three formats and is known for his superb swing bowling and wicket-taking skills.
The man who beat Naseem to the number one spot on Amir’s list was New Zealand left-arm seamer Trent Boult, while Australia speedster Mitchell Starc was in third place.
“[Trent] Boult, he is number one for me, then Naseem Shah. These are bowlers, who I feel are complete bowlers and can play all formats. And third would be Mitchell Starc,” Amir said during a question and answer session on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Naseem has picked up a lot of wickets for Pakistan lately as he took nine wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 23.
He followed that up with two wickets in two ODIs against Afghanistan at an average of 28.50.
He had been involved in the Asia Cup, where he picked up seven wickets in four games at an average of 20, but was ruled out of the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury. Fast bowler Zaman Khan was called up as his replacement.
Pakistan began their campaign in dominant fashion as they pummelled Nepal by 238 runs before sharing one point apiece with India after their match was washed out.
Despite this, the men in green made it through to the Super Fours and proceeded to crush Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, they ended up faltering in their match against India as they were blown away by 228 runs.
It should be noted that in addition to Naseem, Pakistan seamer Haris Rauf also got hurt during the game and was diagnosed with an injury to his right flank.
Along with Zaman, Shahnawaz Dahani was also called up to Pakistan’s Asia Cup squad.
The men in green’s next Super Four game will be against Sri Lanka on September 14 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir