Naseem Shah (; born 15 February 2003) is a Pakistani international

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

er. In October 2019, at the age of 16, he was called up to the

Pakistan cricket team The Pakistan men's national cricket team represents Pakistan in international cricket. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Counc ...

for their

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

series against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He made his international debut for Pakistan in November 2019 against Australia, becoming the ninth-youngest player to make his debut in Test cricket. In December 2019, in the second Test match against

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, he became the second youngest bowler to take a

five-wicket haul In cricket, a five-wicket haul (also known as a "five–for" or "fifer") occurs when a bowler takes five or more wickets in a single innings. This is regarded by critics as a notable achievement, equivalent to a century from a batter. Takin ...

in a Test match, and also the youngest pace bowler to do so. In February 2020, in the first Test against

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

, he became the youngest bowler to take a hat-trick in a Test match.

Early and personal life

Naseem hails from Mayar Jandool, a town in the

Lower Dir district Lower Dir District (, ) is a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Timergara is the district's headquarters and largest city. The Lower Dir district was formed in 1996, when Dir District was divided into Upper Dir and Lower ...

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Northern Pakistan, northwestern region of the country, Khyber ...

province, Pakistan and was born into a

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family. His father, Abbas Shah, was against his decision to play cricket, preferring him to concentrate on his studies. Naseem eventually completed his education to the

tenth grade Tenth grade (also 10th Grade or Grade 10) is the tenth year of formal or compulsory education. It is typically the second year of high school. In many parts of the world, students in tenth grade are usually 15 to 16 years of age. Australia In ...

following which his father wanted him to seek employment abroad. His mother died in 2019, just a day before his Test debut at the age of 16. He has two sisters and four brothers, including Hunain Shah, his younger brother, who's a fast bowler playing at first-class level. His youngest brother, Ubaid Shah, is also a fast bowler, making his Under-19 debut in October 2023 and selected for the Under-19 Asia Cup in December 2023. In February 2023, Naseem Shah was given the honorary rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) in the

Balochistan Police Balochistan Police or Baloch Police ( Baloch, Urdu: بلوچستان پولیس) is responsible for Policing urban Balochistan, Pakistan. Its strength is 150,000 as of 2023.The current Inspector General of Police, Balochistan is Moazzam Jah Ans ...

, with high-level officials in attendance in

Quetta Quetta is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan. It is the ninth largest city in Pakistan, with an estimated population of over 1.6 million in 2024. It is situated in the south-west of the country, lying in a ...

. He expressed pride in being an ambassador for the province and pledged to represent it.

Early career

After playing tape ball cricket for a few years in Lower Dir, Naseem began his professional journey at the age of 13 when his uncle enrolled him in the

Abdul Qadir Abd al-Qadir or Abdulkadir () is a male Muslim given name. It is formed from the Arabic words '' Abd'', ''al-'' and '' Qadir''. The name means 'servant of who can do everything'. ''Al-Qādir'' is one of the names of Allah in the Qur'an, which ...

Cricket Academy in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, where he would be coached by Sulaman Qadir, before getting selected for the Lahore Under-16 team at the age of 13 and later for the Pakistan Under-16 team at the age of 14.

Domestic career

He made his first-class debut for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in the

2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 1 September to 8 December 2018. Following the conclusion of each match, the teams played each other in a List A fixture in the 2 ...

on 1 September 2018. He made his

List A List A cricket is a classification of the Limited overs cricket, limited-overs (one-day) form of the sport of cricket, with games lasting up to eight hours. List A cricket includes One Day International (ODI) matches and various domestic competit ...

debut for Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited in the

2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup The 2018–19 Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup was the first edition of the Quaid-e-Azam One Day Cup, a List A cricket tournament that took place in Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It i ...

on 16 October 2018. In September 2019, he was named in

Central Punjab Central Punjab is a geopolitical region in Punjab, Pakistan. Geography Central Punjab is bounded by the southern boundary of Jhelum River down to the Sutlej, and consists of the five divisions: Lahore, Gujrat, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, and Sahiwa ...

's squad for the

2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy The 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was a first-class domestic cricket competition that took place in Pakistan from 14 September to 31 December 2019. Habib Bank Limited were the defending champions. However, after the new domestic structure was ...

tournament. In October 2019, the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

(PCB) named him as one of the six players to watch ahead of the 2019–20 National T20 Cup tournament. He made his

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

debut on 13 October 2019, for Central Punjab in the 2019–20 National T20 Cup.

Franchise career

PSL

Shah played for

Quetta Gladiators Quetta Gladiators (Urdu, Balochi: ) is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 cricket franchise that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). They play most home games at the Gaddafi Stadium. The Gladiators won and became the champions in PSL ...

from

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, in the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

. He was traded to

Islamabad United Islamabad United () is a Pakistani professional Twenty20 franchise cricket team that competes in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The team is based in Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, and was formed in 2015 to compete in the first ...

before the 2024 season.

Other leagues

On 15 September 2021, Naseem Shah took the crucial two wickets in the final of the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL), which helped

st Kitts and Nevis Patriots The St Kitts & Nevis Patriots are a Caribbean Premier League (CPL) cricket franchise based in Saint Kitts and Nevis that participated in the competition for the first time in 2015 Caribbean Premier League, 2015. The team plays its home games at ...

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, founded in 1870, is one of 18 first-class cricket, first-class county cricket, county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the Historic counties of England, hist ...

to play in domestic tournaments during the first half of the 2022 season in England. In April 2022, he was bought by the

Welsh Fire Welsh Fire () are a franchise 100-ball cricket side based in the city of Cardiff. The team represents the historic counties of Glamorgan, Gloucestershire and Somerset in the newly founded competition called The Hundred, which took place for t ...

for the 2022 season of The Hundred, also in England. However, Shah was ruled out of matches for a month, after picking up a shoulder injury in his first match for Gloucestershire.

International career

In October 2019, he was named in Pakistan's

squad for their series against Australia. In November 2019, he played in the three-day warm-up match for Pakistan against Australia A. He made his Test debut for Pakistan, against

, on 21 November 2019. His debut was appreciated by many senior cricketers, such as former Pakistan fast bowler

Waqar Younis Waqar Younis Maitla HI ( Punjabi, ; born 16 November 1971) is a Pakistani cricket coach, commentator and former cricketer who captained Pakistan national cricket team. A right-arm fast bowler, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest bowle ...

and former England captain

Michael Vaughan Michael Paul Vaughan (born 29 October 1974) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who played all forms of the game. He served as England cricket captain, England captain for the England test team, test team from 2003 to 2008 ...

, the latter being impressed by the 16-year-old touching 147 km/h, or 91.3 mph, in his first ever over. The following month, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for the two-match series against Sri Lanka. In the second match, he took his first

in Test cricket. At the age of 16 years and 307 days, he became the youngest

fast bowler Fast bowling (also referred to as pace bowling) is a type of bowling in cricket, in which the ball is delivered at high speed. The fastest bowlers bowl the ball at over . Practitioners of fast bowling are known as fast bowlers or quicks. Also ...

, and the second-youngest among all bowlers, to take a five-wicket haul in a Test match. He was initially named in Pakistan's squad for the

2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup The 2020 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was an international limited-overs cricket tournament that was held in South Africa from 17 January to 9 February 2020. It was the thirteenth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup, and the second to be ...

, but after his impressive start in Test cricket, he was withdrawn from the U19 team. In January 2020, the

(PCB) issued a statement on Naseem being withdrawn from their U19 squad. They reiterated that it was due to cricketing reasons, and not concerns about his age, stating they have checked and verified the ages of all cricketers who could play in their U19 team. On 9 February 2020, in the first Test against Bangladesh, at the age of 16 years and 359 days, he became the youngest bowler to take a Test

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

. In May 2020, the PCB awarded him a central contract ahead of the 2020–21 season. In June 2020, he was named in a 29-man squad for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In July, he was shortlisted for Pakistan's 20-man squad for the Test matches against England. On 21 August, he was named in Pakistan's

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) squad, also for the series against England. In November 2020, he was named in Pakistan's 35-man squad for their tour to New Zealand. In October 2021, he was named in the

Pakistan Shaheens The Pakistan A cricket team, or Pakistan Shaheens, is a national cricket team representing Pakistan. It is the second-tier of international Pakistan cricket, below the full Pakistan national cricket team. Matches played by Pakistan A are not cons ...

squad for their tour of Sri Lanka. In August 2022, he was named in Pakistan's ODI squad, for their

tour of the Netherlands The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948. It was an annual race since 1975. Because of the start of the UCI ProTour in 2005, it was replaced by the En ...

. He made his ODI debut on 16 August 2022, for Pakistan, against the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. During the last ODI, Naseem took his maiden wicket in ODIs. Later the same month, he was named in Pakistan's T20I squad for the

2022 Asia Cup The 2022 Asia Cup (also known as DP World Asia Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the Asia Cup cricket tournament, with the matches played as Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) during August and September 2022 in the United Arab Em ...

. He made his T20I debut on 28 August 2022, against

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. On 7 September 2022, Naseem Shah made history by delivering 2 sixes against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

to save

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

from a defeat and help qualify for the finals. In September 2022, he was named in Pakistan's T20I squad for England's tour of Pakistan. In October 2022, Naseem was named in Pakistan’s T20I squad for the Tri-Series in New Zealand. Later in October, Naseem was named in Pakistan's T20i squad for the

2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the eighth edition of the Men's T20 World Cup, formerly known as the ICC World Twenty20. It was played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022. In the final, England cricket team, England beat Pakist ...

. He had a proficient run in the World Cup and helped Pakistan qualify for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Final, but lost it. In November 2022, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for England's tour of Pakistan. After the first match, Naseem suffered a shoulder injury that ruled him out of the series. In December 2022, he was named in Pakistan’s Test squad for New Zealand's tour of Pakistan and later in the ODI squad in January 2023. In the first ODI against New Zealand, Naseem took his second fifer in ODIs and a consecutive fifer. In September, he was ruled out of 2023 World Cup due to an injury. In May 2024, he was named in Pakistan’s squad for the

2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup The 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup was the ninth edition of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup, co-hosted by Cricket West Indies and USA Cricket from 1 to 29 June 2024. It was the first major ICC tournament to include matches played in the United ...

tournament.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Naseem 2003 births Living people People from Lower Dir District Cricketers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Twenty20 International cricketers 21st-century Pakistani sportsmen Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Central Punjab cricketers Gloucestershire cricketers Comilla Victorians cricketers Khulna Tigers cricketers Islamabad United cricketers Test cricket hat-trick takers