Naseem Abbas Shah (

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

: نسیم عباس شاه; born 15 February 2003) is a Pakistani international

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er. He is a fast bowler and is in the playing XI in all formats. In October 2019, at the age of 16, he was called up to the

Pakistan cricket team The Pakistan national cricket team or Pak cricket team, often referred to as the Shaheens (), Green Shirts, Men in Green and Cornered Tigers is administered by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The team is a Full Member of the International ...

for their

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He made his international debut for Pakistan in November 2019 against Australia, becoming the ninth-youngest player to make their debut in Test cricket. In December 2019, in the second Test match against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, he became the second-youngest bowler to take a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batsman. Takin ...

in a Test match, and also the youngest

pace bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

to do so. In February 2020, in the first Test against

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

, he became the youngest bowler to take a hat-trick in a Test match.

Personal life

Naseem hails from Mayar Jandool, a town in the

Lower Dir district Lower Dir District ( ps, لر / کوز دير ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Timergara city is the district headquarter and largest city. The district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was di ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province, Pakistan. His father Abbas Shah was against his decision to play cricket, preferring him to concentrate on his education. His mother died in 2019, just a day before his Test debut at the age of 16. He has two sisters and four brothers, including Hunain Shah, his younger brother who's a fast bowler playing at first-class level. In February 2023, Naseem Shah was given the honorary rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the

Balochistan Police Balochistan Police or Baloch Police ( Baloch, Urdu: بلوچستان پولیس) is responsible for policing urban Balochistan, Pakistan. Its strength is 38,000 as of 2018. The current Inspector General of Police, Balochistan is Abdul Khalique S ...

, with high-level officials in attendance in

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

. He expressed pride in being an ambassador for the province and pledged to represent it. The event took place a day before a 2023 Pakistan Super League exhibition match.

Domestic and franchise career

After playing tape-ball cricket for few years in Lower Dir, Naseem began his professional journey at the age of 13 when his uncle enrolled him in the

Abdul Qadir Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir ( ar, عبد القادر) is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means "servant of the powerful", ''Al-Qādir'' being one of the names of God in the ...

cricket academy in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city. ...

, where he would be coached by Sulaman Qadir, before getting selected for the Lahore Under-16 team at the age of 13 and later for the Pakistan Under-16 team at the age of 14. He made his first-class debut for

Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited The Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) ( ur, ), formerly known as Agricultural Development Bank of Pakistan, is Pakistani government-owned agricultural development bank which is based in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded in 1961 as the agricultura ...

in the

2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 1 September to 8 December 2018. Following the conclusion of each match, the teams played each other in a List A fixture in the 20 ...

on 1 September 2018. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competitions in which the numbe ...

debut for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in the

2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup was the first edition of the Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, a List A cricket tournament that took place in Pakistan from 6 September to 4 November 2018. Each match was played after the conclusion of the correspo ...

on 16 October 2018. In September 2019, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the

2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 14 September to 31 December 2019. Habib Bank Limited were the defending champions. However, after the new domestic structure annou ...

tournament. In October 2019, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB) named him as one of the six players to watch ahead of the

2019–20 National T20 Cup The 2019–20 National T20 Cup was a Twenty20 domestic cricket competition that was played in Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan from 13 to 24 October 2019. Lahore Whites were the defending champions. It was the sixteenth season of the National T20 Cu ...

tournament. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

debut on 13 October 2019, for Central Punjab in the

. On 15 September 2021, Naseem Shah took the crucial 2 wickets in the final of the

2021 Caribbean Premier League The 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPLT20) was the ninth season of the Caribbean Premier League, the domestic Twenty20 cricket league that was played in the West Indies. The tournament was held from 26 August to 15 September 2021, with all the m ...

(CPL), which helped

st Kitts and Nevis Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots are a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket franchise based in Saint Kitts and Nevis, and participated in the competition for the first time in 2015. The team will play its home games at Warner Park, Basseterre, loc ...

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Gloucestershire. Founded in 1870, Gloucestershire have always ...

to play in domestic tournaments during the first half of the 2022 season in England. In April 2022, he was bought by the

Welsh Fire Welsh Fire ( cy, Tân Cymreig) are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Cardiff. The team represents the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset in the newly founded competiti ...

for the 2022 season of The Hundred, also in England. However, Shah was ruled out of matches for a month, after picking up a shoulder injury in his first match for Gloucestershire.

International career

In October 2019, he was named in Pakistan's

squad for their series against Australia. In November 2019, he played in the three-day warm-up match for Pakistan against Australia A. He made his Test debut for Pakistan, against

, on 21 November 2019. His debut was appreciated by many senior cricketers, such as former Pakistan fast bowler

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI ( Punjabi, ur, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, Waqar Younis is regarded as one of the grea ...

and former England captain

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England captain for the test team from 2003 to 2008, the one-day international team from 2003 ...

, the latter being impressed by the 16 years old touching 147 km/h or 91.3 mph in his first ever over. The following month, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka. In the second match, he took his first

in Test cricket. At the age of 16 years and 307 days, he became the youngest

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is one of two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket, the other being spin bowling. Practitioners of pace bowling are usually known as ''fast'' bowlers, ''quicks'', or ''pacemen''. T ...

, and the second-youngest among all bowlers, to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match. He was initially named in Pakistan's squad for the

2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament that was held in South Africa from 17 January to 9 February 2020. It was the thirteenth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be ...

, but after his impressive start in Test cricket, he was withdrawn from the U19 team. In January 2020, the

(PCB) issued a statement on Naseem being withdrawn from their U19 squad. They reiterated that it was due to cricketing reasons, and not concerns of his age, stating they have checked and verified the ages of all cricketers who could play in their U19 team. On 9 February 2020, in the first Test against Bangladesh, at the age of 16 years and 359 days, he became the youngest bowler to take a Test

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

. In May 2020, the PCB awarded him with a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In July, he was shortlisted in Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. On 21 August, he was named in Pakistan's

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) squad, also for the series against England. In November 2020, he was named in Pakistan's 35-man squad for their tour to New Zealand. In October 2021, he was named in the

Pakistan Shaheens The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

squad for their tour of Sri Lanka. In August 2022, he was named in Pakistan's ODI squad, for their

tour of the Netherlands The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It's an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005, it was replaced by the Eneco To ...

. He made his ODI debut on 16 August 2022, for Pakistan, against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. During the last ODI, Naseem took his maiden fifer in ODIs. Later the same month, he was named in Pakistan's T20I squad for the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

. He made his T20I debut on 28 August 2022, against

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. On 7 September 2022, Naseem Shah made history by delivering 2 sixes against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

to save

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

from a defeat and help qualify for the finals. In September 2022, he was named in Pakistan's T20i squad for England's tour of Pakistan. In October 2022, Naseem was named in Pakistan’s T20i squad for the Tri-Series in New Zealand. Later in October, Naseem was named in Pakistan's T20i squad for the

2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. Although originally scheduled to be held in 2020, in July 2020, the International Cricket Counci ...

. He had a proficient run in the World Cup and helped Pakistan qualify for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final, but sadly losing it. In November 2022, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for England's tour of Pakistan. After the first match, Naseem suffered a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the series. In December 2022, he was named in Pakistan’s Test squad for New Zealand's tour of Pakistan and later for the ODI squad in January 2023. In the first ODI against New Zealand, Naseem took his second fifer in ODIs and a consecutive fifer.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Naseem 2003 births Living people People from Lower Dir District Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Central Punjab cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Comilla Victorians cricketers