Naseem Shah can replicate my bowling, attitude and anger: Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar, the former Pakistan fast bowler, have seen glimpses of himself in Naseem Shah, who made his Test debut on November 2019 at the age of 16. It was also during the same time when his mother passed away and the Pakistan cricketers wore black armbands to mourn the pacer’s loss. In his maiden game at The Gabba in Brisbane, he cranked up the pace and also got David Warner’s wicket.

Akhtar, who still holds the record for the fastest delivery ever bowled in cricket, reckons that Naseem could replicate what he managed in his career. The Rawalpindi Express was impressed with Shah to the extent that he wished to have bowled in tandem along with the speedster.

“Among the present lot of fast bowlers, I feel Naseem Shah can replicate my bowling attitude and anger. Naseem and I would have made a fine pair with the same attacking attitude,” Akhtar was quoted as saying in the Digital Pairs series launched by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Naseem Shah’s career in brief

Though Shah got Warner in the first game, luck didn’t shine on him initially. In the second session of the opening day’s play, the seamer found Warner’s outside edge, but the decision had to be overturned as it was a no-ball. The left-handed Warner went on to pile 154 runs with 10 fours after which Australia won the match by an innings and five runs.

He didn’t get to play the Adelaide Test where Warner smacked a triple-century. However, in Pakistan’s home campaign against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Naseem looked at his very best. In the Karachi Test versus Lanka, he returned with his maiden five-wicket haul in the second innings, helping his team win the encounter by a mammoth 263 runs.

In the first Test against Mominul Haque’s Tigers, he got his second fifer, which also included a hat-trick. Even that time around, his efforts paid dividends as Pakistan won by an innings and 44 runs. Shah also had the playing for the Quetta Gladiators, led by Sarfaraz Ahmed, in the 2020 edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). In the tournament, he picked up five wickets from six matches.