Wahab Riaz: “I feel that he has still not performed up to his capability as of yet”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Wahab Riaz, the former left-arm seamer, said he wants to see Pakistan pace bowler Naseem Shah take the next step up as he has “still not performed up to his capability.”
Naseem has cemented his spot in the pace attack across all three formats and has done brilliantly lately as he has been claiming plenty of wickets.
However, Wahab still wants to see more from the 20-year-old and believes he has not reached his true potential yet.
“I feel that he has still not performed up to his capability as of yet,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Naseem recently picked up nine wickets in two Tests against Sri Lanka at an average of 23.
Following this, he played in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan and finished with two wickets in two matches at an average of 28.50.
His latest assignment was the Asia Cup, where he took seven wickets in four games at an average of 20.
However, Naseem suffered a serious shoulder injury during the tournament that ruled him out of the ongoing 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India.
It’s possible he could also be sidelined for Pakistan’s tour of Australia at the end of 2023 and the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) too.
Pakistan began their World Cup campaign with back-to-back wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before being handed their first loss by India.
They will be looking to secure their third win when they take on Australia on October 20 in Bengaluru.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup:Â 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