Even if young Naseem Shah had believed in himself that he could go on and hammer the big hits to win the game for his team, very few people in the dugout, stands, or elsewhere around the world would have expected that something like this could actually happen. The 19-year-old, who was out to bat for only the second time in his shortest format career at the highest level for Men in Green, smoked two big hits, back-to-back, on the first two balls of Pakistan’s final over of run chase to win the game against Afghanistan.
Naseem, during the post-match interview with former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, said that he had confidence and believed in himself that he could do the job for his side as he had batted regularly at the nets, but to deliver in the match situation is something different and big. But the young boy did it in style and picked the opposition team’s best bowler of the night to win against.
And rightfully so, after he did it all, he became the toast of the nation. Fans, former greats, and his own teammates were full of praise for him.
But one shouldn’t forget that Naseem’s primary craft is not his batting but instead his ability to deliver with the ball in hand. The right-handed pacer, who also has a Test hat-trick to his name, is a full-time bowler and that’s what he reminded as well when Shastri complimented him on his bowling.
“Bowling toh achi rahi hai lekin I think ab sab bhul gaye ki main bowler bhi hoon (laughs). (Bowling is alright but I think now everyone will forget that I’m a bowler),” he told Shastri.
Naseem said that when he came out to bat as a number 10 batter, he had the belief that he could smash big hits and that’s what he did in the end.
“Jab mai batting pr aya tha to mujhe believe tha ki mai chakke toh maar skta hoon kyuki mai practice to krta hoon. Mujhe ye pata tha ki vo kosish krenge ki mujhe yorker kare, aur maine kosish ki aur allah ne laga diye (When I came out to bat I know that I can hit sixes because I had practiced. I already knew their plan was to bowl yorkers, so I tried going bat and by God’s grace it clicked.)
Apart from scoring an unbeaten 14 runs from four balls, Naseem also picked up one wicket for 19 runs in his four overs
