Pakistan's Naseem Shah, with a fiery debut against India in Asia Cup, is the new fast-bowling sensation

Former Pakistani fast bowler Waqar Younis had once said that Naseem Shah would be the future of Pakistan cricket team. And Shah proved him right last night. The young fast bowler from Khyber Paktunkhwa had an impressive T20I debut against India.

Though Pakistan lost the nail-biting contest against their arch-rivals India, Shah's bowling performance was a treat to watch. 

What was special about his performance? In his debut T20I, Naseem ended with a figure of 2/27 in four overs. In his first over only, Naseem rattled the stumps of KL Rahul on the second ball only. He bowled a good length bowl pitching outside off stump which made Rahul to chip the ball towards the third man. But it got an inside edge and knocked off the bails. If it was Shaheen Shah Afridi in the last encounter who got Rahul, it was Naseem Shah this time. 

After Rahul, it was Suryakumar Yadav who was going good at 18 when he was bowled by Shah. Again, the ball knocked off the stumps of Yadav.  He kept his bowling tight and along with Shahnawaz Dahani, Haris Rauf and with Mohammad Nawaz, kept Pakistan in the game.  A very unique quality of Shah is to swing the ball at good a speed. This one factor separates him from the rest.

What the facts say about him? There's an old phrase that says "numbers speak for themselves". In Shah's case, the figures very well speak for him. He got his five wicket haul in Test cricket against Sri Lanka in 2020. He has played 13 Tests and 3 ODIs for Pakistan. In 13 Tests, he has scalped 33 wickets at an average of 36.30 and his economy rate is 3.52. In ODI's he has taken 10 wickets in 3 matches which includes a 4-wicket haul against Netherlands recently.  

Shane Bond is the inspiration forShah: Shah from his childhood had a fascination for fast bowling, something which comes from watching great Pakistani bowling legends in his country like Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis. However, these legends didn't push the young Naseem Shah towards the game. It was New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond.

He wanted to copy his running, his style, rhythm and everything else. He started with tennis ball, but soon moved towards cricket ball as he had a genuine pace. In 2018, he started his domestic cricket journey with first class debut with Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. Within a year after playing with different teams, Shah was among the six players named by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to watch ahead. On November 21, 2019, he made his Test debut against Australia. 

The new Shah of Pakistan: Ahead of the match, the absence of Pakistani fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi was talked about a lot. But after the match, there was a new Shah to be talked about. The next six months would be crucial as Pakistan goes to play in the T20 World Cup in October. If he performs well in these six months, he can be a star of Pakistani bowling.

Pakistan lost the match against India by 5 wickets. Batting first, Pakistan were bowled out for 147. India chased the target with two balls to spare with Hardik Pandya hitting the winning six.