Jason Gillespie: “He does (have batting potential), he has a good eye. He’s got a bit of swagger about him, Naseem”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie believes fast bowler Naseem Shah has got batting potential.
Naseem has played a number of impressive knocks, with one of his most recent being a career-best 40 during the ODI series against Australia.
Having shown potential as a lower order batsman, Gillespie wants to see more from the 21-year-old and urged him to keep scoring runs and building partnerships with other batsmen in the team.
“Naseem Shah has a beautiful wrist position with his wrist and fingers behind the ball. When I first got to Pakistan, he was quick to tell me he could bat. He said, ‘I helped Saud Shakeel get to 200, coach, and we had a big partnership.’ I told him to show me some more of that and build partnerships. He does (have batting potential), he has a good eye. He’s got a bit of swagger about him, Naseem,” he was quoted as saying by Grassroots Cricket on X, formerly known as Twitter.
During the ODI series against Australia, Naseem took five wickets in three matches at an average of 31.60.
He followed that up with one wicket in two T20Is at an average of 81.
Pakistan then embarked on a tour of Zimbabwe, but Naseem was rested for it.
The men in green won the ODI series 2-1 and the T20I series 2-1 as well.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a tour of South Africa, which will consist of three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
The T20I series will begin on December 10, while the ODI and Test series will start on December 17 and December 26 respectively.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
[TS_Poll id=”27″]