How Twitter reacted:On the third day of the first warm-up match between Australia A and Pakistan at Perth, 16-year-old Pakistani fast-bowler Naseem Shah caught eyeballs with his intense pace as he bowled a brutal bouncer at Australia’s A batsman Usman Khawaja.
Naseem was brought into the attack as a first-change bowler on the final day (Wednesday), having not bowled in the first innings. Naseem dismissed Australia A opening batsman Marcus Harris (20) on the penultimate delivery of the 22nd over after he edged a delivery to wicket-keeper, Abid Ali.
Had it not been for Pakistan batsman Haris Sohail’s dropped catch, Naseem would have had his first wicket earlier. While 8-321-1 bowling figures might not justify how well he bowled today, cricketing fraternity speaks of Naseem highly.
In what came as an unfortunate development, Naseem lost his mother yesterday but didn’t return to Pakistan after consultation with his family.
A PCB spokesperson was quoted as saying, “Naseem [Shah] was to miss his mother’s funeral even if he left for Pakistan at the earliest. Therefore, after consultation with his family, he has decided to stay back.”
While the match ended in a draw, the visitors must have gained a lot of confidence after scoring 428/10 in 118 overs and bundling out Australia A for 122 in 56.4 overs.
