Ahead of Pakistan’s much-anticipated tour of England, Naseem Shah, the 17-year-old fast-bowling sensation, has sent an open warning to Joe Root and his team, saying it would be their "big loss" if they underestimate him in the upcoming Test series starting in August.
Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan is scheduled to tour England at the end of this month for three Tests and as many as T20Is to be played in August-September.
Naseem has been named in Pakistan’s 29-man squad for their tour of England and he will be a key bowler along with Shaheen Shah Afridi, the 6-foot, 6-inch paceman to spearhead Pakistan’s young pace attack in the upcoming Test series in England starting August 5.
However, Shah has played just 4 Tests for Pakistan so far since making debut last November against Australia at 16 but has already made a name for himself among the cricket fraternity.
The teenage fast-bowling sensation recently became the youngest fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Test cricket against Sri Lanka in December 2019, as well as, became the youngest bowler to take a hat-trick in a Test match against Bangladesh earlier this year.
Well, the raw pace-bowling talent has asked England to ‘take him seriously’, saying it would be their loss if they treat him ‘like a small kid’ in the upcoming Test series.
Shah said: “If they treat me like a small kid, it will be their big loss. Age doesn't matter, it's my bowling that matters -- so they need to take me seriously.”
On his plans against England, the young paceman said: “Speed matters. I will continue to make efforts to attain maximum speed. On top of that, if I succeed in making the ball swing and reverse at that pace, it will definitely put pressure on the batsmen.”
He signed off, “I want to emulate the greats of cricket who dismantled many renowned batsmen with their pace and aggression. I want to emerge as [one of] the top three fast bowlers in the world, and I believe there will be no better coach to teach me than Waqar Younis, who himself was one of the best.”
Noteworthy, Pakistan squad will fly England one month before the bilateral series to spend mandatory 14-day isolation period in the UK, as well as, to be able to do practice for the series, as the COVID-19 outbreak didn’t allow them to train in Pakistan.
(With AFP Inputs)
