Waqar Younis
Waqar Younis (Credits: Getty)

Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis has come out in support of young paceman Naseem Shah despite an underwhelming bowling performance in the first Tests against England in Manchester. The visitors ultimately lost the match by three wickets.

Naseem Shah could pick only two wickets, one of Ollie Pope and Joe Root in the first and second innings respectively. Waqar Younis has predicted a bright future for him.

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Naseem Shah made his Test debut in November 2019 in Brisbane against Australia but began shining a month later only. The 17-year old picked up his first five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka and became the youngest bowler to take a Test hat-trick this year by doing so against Bangladesh. Shah bowled with excellent pace against England at the Old Trafford and at times bowling faster than his counterpart Jofra Archer.

Naseem Shah
Naseem Shah (Credits: Twitter)

Waqar Younis underlined that for a teenager, he is very talented and is rapidly growing in stature. He pointed out that the right-arm pacer did not fare according to his potential in the first Test; however, backed Naseem to take out the opposition single-handedly. The 87-Test veteran highlighted the teen prodigy to be an excellent prospect for the future.

He’s very talented and he’s only 17 years of age, he’s still growing but what a talent he is. I don’t think he really bowled as well as expected in the previous game, but he can really bowl well, he can really take the opposition on at times. He’s one for the future, he’s going to get stronger and hopefully get fitter and be able to bowl longer spells and will cause trouble to batsmen around the world,” Younis told the media conference.

Naseem Shah will definitely be a force for Pakistan in the next coming few years: Waqar Younis

Naseem Shah
Naseem Shah. (Credits: Twitter)

When asked if Naseem Shah can join the list of Pakistan’s great bowlers, Waqar highlighted him as very young now and needs to get fitter and stronger to flourish. At the same time, the bowling mentor conceded it would be difficult to predict whether a bowler will become a future great.

He’s young, he’s really talented, he’s got a very good action, all he needs to do is probably get stronger and fitter. Once he gets fitter and bowls more overs, he will definitely be a force for Pakistan in the next coming few years. When you talk about becoming a great it’s very, very difficult to be sure about anyone,” the former Pakistan captain added.

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