Pakistan’s young pace sensation Naseem Shah has grabbed many eyeballs ever since he was given node for the crucial Australia tour by Misbah-ul-Haq especially because of his young age.

However, the age wasn’t come on his way to trouble the Australian batsman even in his debut match – first Test at The Gabba last week having already terrorised the hosts in the warm-ups.

While the 16-year-old is already in news for his sensational bowling in the ongoing two-match Test series against Australia, there are a lot of eyebrows have been raised on the matter of his age, especially after former Indian paceman Mohammad Kaif cast doubt on his age on social media.

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Kaif had shared a screen grab of a newspaper article from 2016, where Shah was told to be 16 years old and even former West Indies pacer Andy Roberts saw “16-year-old Naseem” three years ago.

In an interview with Dawn in 2016, the 65-year-old Roberts had predicted Shah as one of the brightest prospects during a training camp in Pakistan.

Roberts had said: “I must say that I very much liked a young fast bowler by the name of Nasim. He is just 16-year-old. I am sorry that I did not have at least two, three weeks’ time to work with him.”

However, Kaif’s doubt didn’t go down well with Naseem’s childhood coach Suleiman Qadir – son of late Abdul Qadir, who hits back at former Indian bowler by saying the youngster will not disturb with all the talk surrounding the controversy regarding his age.

As per Asian Age, Qadir stated: “Andy Roberts is not Naseem Shah’s father. I can guarantee you that he is 16 years of age. He came to our academy some 4 years ago and was twelve then.”

He further went on explain, “He has undergone Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) conducted bones tests and a panel of doctors had also confirmed his age. Yes, in the past I do agree that in the absence of birth-certificates the age of certain cricketers was questioned. But in the case of Naseem Shah, he already has a birth certificate and a smart card.”

Qadir signed off by saying, “In our country, Smart Card becomes a National Identity Card when a person crosses 18 and Naseem is still holding the Smart Card.”

(With Asian Age Inputs)