Aaqib Javed: “Shaheen, Haris and Zaman, they should be your bowlers in white-ball cricket and then you can go down to Naseem Shah”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Aaqib Javed, the Lahore Qalandars head coach, believes Naseem Shah should be the fourth-choice fast bowler in limited overs.
He noted that he would pick Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf and Zaman Khan ahead of him in ODIs and T20Is.
Afridi and Rauf have already cemented their places in white-ball cricket, but Zaman is a newcomer who has shown plenty of promise so far.
Despite Zaman not having accomplished as much as Naseem, Aaqib still feels he would be a better choice.
“Shaheen, Haris and Zaman, they should be your bowlers in white-ball cricket and then you can go down to Naseem Shah,” he was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Naseem recently 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.
His latest assignment was the Asia Cup, where he picked up seven wickets in four matches at an average of 20.
However, Naseem’s fantastic form was halted when he suffered a shoulder injury in Pakistan’s loss to India in the Super Four stage of the Asia Cup.
The 20-year-old has been ruled out of the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and could also miss Pakistan’s tour of Australia at the end of the year and the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.
The men in green started their World Cup campaign with an 81-run win over the Netherlands before defeating Sri Lanka by six wickets, during which they chased down a target of 345, making it the highest successful run chase in the history of the tournament.
Pakistan’s next match will be against arch-rivals India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali