Babar Azam: “We will miss Naseem Shah a lot”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has admitted that the team really want to see fast bowler Naseem Shah back as soon as possible.
Naseem was supposed to be one of Pakistan’s key bowlers during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, but he missed the tournament after suffering a shoulder injury while playing in the Asia Cup.
Given that the 20-year-old pace sensation was not picked for Pakistan’s tour of Australia, Azam conceded that the national team will miss him.
It is possible that Naseem could miss the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.
“We will miss Naseem Shah a lot,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
In the World Cup, Azam amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 40.
Pakistan started off by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing four in a row to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They managed to rebound with wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand, but it was not enough to get them into the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign in disappointing fashion as they lost to England by 93 runs.
Pakistan’s tour of Australia will consist of three Test matches and get underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi