Pakistan began their much-anticipated home international cricket season on Friday (9 October) at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium against Sri Lanka and fast bowler Naseem Shah took just five legitimate deliveries to bag the first scalp.
The right-arm pacer was in action for Pakistan after a gap of seven months and registered figures of three for 36 in his four overs.
Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium is also the venue where – playing just his fourth match for Pakistan in February 2020 – Naseem became the youngest bowler to take a hat-trick in Test cricket at the age of 16 years and 359 days as he ran through Bangladesh’s batting.
Now when he is three months shy of his 24th birthday and has an experience of 93 international matches, in which he has taken 155 wickets, Naseem reflected on his early days at the top level in an interview with the PCB Digital, “You change a lot as a human being and a cricketer (as you age) with maturity levels and experience enhancing.
“You also learn a lot through ups and downs in the life. You do bowl express pace when you are young and new in the sport but now I think that you also need to have some sense in terms of what you are trying to do.”
Naseem has been no stranger to spend time on the sidelines due to injury in his seven-year career with the major miss being the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. The latest setback came in the HBL PSL 2026 as he suffered a back injury, which ruled him out of the tournament.
Talking about his experience of bouncing back from injury setbacks, Naseem said, “You go back to zero whenever you are injured and sometimes it doesn’t even allow you to go for a run let alone going through the motions of the game. The rehabilitation programme then becomes important. It is also critical how well you understand your body during those times. Being surrounded by a good medical team also helps.”
With a focus on making a strong comeback and using his past experiences in the best possible way, Naseem stamped his authority right away in the opening T20I against Sri Lanka as he first induced a false shot off visiting captain Kusal Mendis off a 136.9 kmph delivery, which was caught at third.
With Sri Lanka looking to make the most of the last 10 balls of their innings, he first uprooted Dunith Wellalage’s leg-stump with a full ball clocked at 141.9 kmph and two balls later stopped Lahiru Udara’s advance on 91 as the batter holed out an attempted yorker to long-on.
In the second T20I, though, he didn’t manage a wicket, his two overs in the powerplay only yielded nine runs, setting the tone for Sri Lanka’s eventual capitulation in the chase.
“You have to toy with a batter’s mindset in modern-day white-ball cricket given the nature of surfaces around the world and the focus on entertainment (through run-fests). One ought to become more skillful and developed as a bowler in these times”, said Naseem when asked how can a bowler reap success in the fast-paced modern-day cricket.
Naseem is also part of Pakistan’s squad for the upcoming ODI tri-series involving England and Sri Lanka. With the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led outfit set to kick-start their preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup in South Africa, Naseem would certainly be eager to impress in that format as well and finally make it to his maiden ICC Cricket World Cup where Pakistan’s campaign begins on 8 October 2027 against Afghanistan.
The right-arm pacer has so far taken field in 34 ODIs picking up 60 wickets at an average of 25.91 and a strike rate of 28.3. He has bagged two five-wicket hauls in the career so far taking 5-33 versus Netherlands in just his third ODI in August 2022.
In his subsequent ODI against New Zealand in January 2023 he returned figures of 5-57, becoming just the sixth Pakistan bowler to take at least two consecutive five-fors in the format.
Looking ahead, he affirmed, “I feel I’m yet to play my peak cricket. Whatever the cricket I’ve played so far especially Test cricket, I think I lacked a few things. My simple goal is to perform so much that there is no need to talk out loud about my goals or performances. When there are less injuries and you are bowling with good rhythm, everything falls into place itself.”