Morne Morkel: “Naseem is a quality bowler if you look at his stats, the consistency he gave us with the new ball upfront was amazing”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan bowling coach Morne Morkel has praised speedster Naseem Shah for his outstanding consistency when bowling with the new ball.
Naseem was in fantastic form in the lead-up to the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and was set to be one of the bowlers to watch in the tournament.
However, he didn’t get the chance to feature in the competition as he injured his shoulder during the Asia Cup.
Morkel admitted that Naseem was missed during the World Cup as he is a “quality bowler” who had been hitting his stride in the last couple of months.
“Naseem is a quality bowler if you look at his stats, the consistency he gave us with the new ball upfront was amazing,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.
Pakistan won their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before suffering defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, it was not enough to earn them a spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a low as England pummelled them by 93 runs.
Naseem was not selected for Pakistan’s upcoming three-match Test series against Australia, which will start on December 14 in Perth.
There is a possibility he will miss the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) as well.
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