Naseem Shah has arrived on the cricket circuit with a spectacular show in Asia Cup 2022. Pakistan faced a tremendous setback when the frontline pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury. The fans of the Pakistan Cricket Team pressed the panic button following the news of Afridi’s injury. According to cricket experts, the chances of Pakistan performing well in the Asia Cup diminished due to the departure of Shaheen. However, Shah was bowling fireballs at Rotterdam and Galle and demonstrated his skillset on the field. It was another bowling marvel getting ready to enter the ferocious fast-bowling attack of Pakistan. The performance of Naseem Shah proved that the spirits of this team are beyond any single player. Each and every cricketer in the Pakistan cricket roster is capable of producing match-winning performances.
Pakistan suffered a defeat against India in their opening game on 28 August. Pakistan only scored a total of 148 runs on the board. It was looking easy for India. However, Naseem Shah troubled the best batsmen of the circuit by delivering scintillating and phenomenal fireballs. Especially, the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi from the roster Pakistan escalated the chances of India in the game. The 19-year-old grabbed the ball with passion and provided the breakthrough for his team. The giant of T20 cricket, Lokesh Rahul, returned to the pavilion on a golden duck, courtesy of the phenomenal delivery by Naseem Shah. So it was a wonderful start for Naseem Shah, who made a dream debut against arch-rivals in Asia Cup 2022. Does the story end here? Is not one delightful moment enough for the ecstasy of the debutant? Give him the space!
Asia Cup 2022: Naseem Shah vs India
Here comes the debutant Naseem Shah against the batting marvel who has scored 70 international centuries. Undoubtedly, He rules this game. Shah is only 19 years old boy whose dream of bowling against the best batsman in world cricket was fulfilled. Should we expect a wicket? Kohli is not a rookie. The legend has smashed the best bowlers all around the park. The kid might make no difference.
Encounter against Virat Kohli
Shah delivers an unbelievable inswinger that missed the stumps of Kohli. Undoubtedly, a chunk of fear has spiked in the heart of Indian fans. The cunning Shah comes again. This time a wonderful delivery produces an edge and Fakhar Zaman needs to catch the ball. Dropped! Zaman dropped one of the most significant catches of his career. Pakistan Cricket Fans are in disbelief. Naseem Shah cannot believe it. Obviously, he cannot scold his senior player Fakhar Zaman. But it was surely a costly drop.
Kohli went on to make some runs on the board to help India get out of the early crises. However, the spell of Naseem Shah vs Virat Kohli in Asia Cup 2022 did make the headlines the next day. Half of the fans were talking about the brilliance of Hardik Pandya. The other day, fans were singing the praises of Naseem Shah who surely bowled astonishingly against India.
Suryakumar Yadav vs Naseem Shah
Okay, the story did not end at that point. We started talking about different things in between leaving the important point. So, India lost quick wickets in the opening game against Pakistan which gave a little scare to the men in blue. Babar Azam gave the responsibility to Naseem Shah of bowling in the death overs against Suryakumar Yadav. Now Yadav is one of the rising stars in world cricket. He is capable of hitting 360-degree shots all around the park. In the Indian Premier League, Yadav performed so well that experts called him the next big thing in cricket. Fans were making a new slogan famous in the circuit. “SKY is the limit,” the four words started circulating all around.
Yadav is among the top T20I batsmen according to the rankings. Therefore, the problem arises. How could Naseem Shah handle the tremendous pressure of bowling against Suryakumar Yadav? Naseem Shah showed amazing confidence on the field against India in Asia Cup 2022. He bowled a thunderbolt which destroyed the stumps of Suryakumar Yadav. The scenes were unbelievable. Due to the splendid bowling display of Naseem Shah, Pakistan was giving a tremendous fight to India despite scoring a new total. Pakistan failed to win the game in a close contest, but the potential of another bowling marvel was evident on the screen. From being a rookie fast bowler, Shah became a star cricketer in Pakistan after performing against India in Asia Cup 2022.
Asia Cup 2022: Naseem Shah vs Afghanistan
The occasion of the ultimate game is here. Pakistan was all set to face the dangerous Afghanistan team in a significant encounter for both teams in Asia Cup 2022. If Afghanistan loses the game against Pakistan, it will be eliminated from Asia Cup 2022. Furthermore, due to the tensions between the people of both countries, the Pakistan-Afghanistan game carried tremendous hype. Pakistan won the toss and bowled first against Afghanistan. The bowling attack of the Pakistan Cricket Team is one of the best in the world. It did not allow the Afghanistan battle to settle their feat on the crease. Shah bowled extremely well and got the important wicket of the veteran T20 player Mohammad Nabi. Shah bowled Nabi on a golden duck in the Asia Cup 2022 encounter vs Afghanistan.
The wicket was tricky and the spin bowling attack of Afghanistan is undoubtedly difficult to encounter. Despite the low total of Afghanistan, Pakistani fans were scared of the approach of their team’s batsmen against the Afghan bowlers. The batting marvel Babar Azam could not face a spectacular inswinger of Fazalhaq Farooqi. He returned to the pavilion on a golden duck. Even Mohammad Rizwan could not face the masterclass of Rashid Khan’s astonishing leg-spin deliveries.
One Wicket After Another
Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed stabilized things for Pakistan in the middle overs. It seemed that Pakistan is back in the game. But the wicket of Iftikhar against Fazal Haq started complicating things for Pakistan. Rashid took the wicket of Shadab Khan in crucial circumstances to bring Afghanistan back into the game. Things started looking tough for Pakistan. Was Afghanistan going to give a cracker of an upset to Pakistan in Asia Cup 2022? One wicket after another, the Pakistan wickets were falling quickly.
Fazalhaq Farooqi bowled Khushdil Shah. Nawaz could not play a spectacular inswinger of Farooqi. Only Asif Ali was on the crease. He tried to chip in. Asif hit a six in the penultimate over. Hence, the hopes were back. But he was dismissed on the next ball. Afghanistan was on the verge to defeat Pakistan in the significant Asia Cup 2022 contest. Pakistani fans started preparing to leave the stadium following a disappointing show from Pakistan.
Hero of the Last-Over Story
Last over, 11 runs were required. Here comes Naseem Shah on strike. Farooqi delivers a full-toss delivery and Naseem hits it elegantly towards the Long Off. The feelings of ecstasy were evident on the faces of Pakistani fans. Now only 5 remained on the scoreboard. But there was only one wicket. Panic all around among the Afghanistan players on the field. Next ball, Farooqi comes will all force to get better of Shah. The story was no different. Naseem Shah connects another shot towards the long-off boundary and hits a phenomenal shot for a six. There were celebrations all around. It seems like a recap of the Miandad six from the era of the 80s. What a wonderful shot! This kind of display is rare in cricket. Naseem Shah proved in Asia Cup 2022 that he could be a vital troop for Pakistan in all departments of the game.
Without a shadow of a doubt, the is one of the best editions of the Asia Cup in modern-era. Furthermore, the contests between the sides have been enthralling to watch. Even the underdogs like Sri Lanka have risen through the ranks to perform in the tournament. Do you want to find out which team has the highest number of chances of winning the Asia Cup 2022? If yes, then you could go to the best online cricket sportsbook sites in the UK to know the numbers.
