The move was made to prepare for the next U-19 World Cup which will be held in South Africa.
Come the next U-19 World Cup, Pakistan will have Naseem Shah in their lineup. The 16-year old pace sensation had a rollercoaster of a tour of Australia with the senior team. However, before even making his Test debut, he had received news of his mother passing away. Nevertheless, he showed his resolve and decided against returning home.
He then made his much-awaited debut and made a good impression by giving David Warner and Joe Burns a difficult time with his pace. He would dismiss Warner later in that match with a precision bouncer. Surprisingly, he was dropped from the playing XI for the second Test in Adelaide.
Shah will have another opportunity to prove his capabilities and improve his skill when he eventually plays for Pakistan in the upcoming U-19 World Cup. The 16-team competition will kick off with a match in Kimberley between tournament hosts South Africa and Afghanistan on 17 January. Pakistan, on the other hand, will open their campaign against Scotland on January 19.
Their coach, Ijaz Ahmed, stated that he had no intention of playing in South Africa without Naseem Shah as part of the team. He called the youngster his ‘main weapon’. He added that he would request senior team coach Misbah-ul-Haq to release Naseem for the competition.
‘He is my main weapon and I need him there at the World Cup… He now has a taste of international cricket and now, at the home Test series against Sri Lanka, we are mainly banking on spinners. Pakistan has Mohammad Abbas and Shaheen Afridi to lead the fast-bowling attack according to the conditions’.
‘I feel that Shah should only be used in conditions like in New Zealand, England, etc. when needed. For now, we have a very important event coming up in South Africa and he is very handy for me and I will ask Misbah, the chief coach and selector to release him’.
The ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup is an international cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by national under-19 teams. It makes use of the 50-overs format, otherwise known as ODIs. To find out more about the different formats in cricket, visit Betwala’s page.
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