'Andy Roberts is not his father' - Suleiman Qadir opens up on Naseem Shah's age fudging controversy

Naseem Shah, the young fast bowling prodigy had hogged the spotlight even before breaking into the national side. He impressed everyone with his lethal and accuracy at a young age of 16. Soon, the pacer went onto get his first international game in the longer format against Australia in Brisbane at the Gabba. But, a controversy related to his age confusion overshadowed him. Now, his childhood coach has come up with proper clarifications over Naseem Shah’s age.

The young cricketer had given a glimpse of his lethal pace and how dangerous he can be with the ball during a warm-up game in which he deceived Australian batsmen with the speed. They were finding it difficult to play strokes against Naseem Shah. Later on, in his debut match, he took a precious wicket of David Warner, who played a marathon knock of 154 runs.

The controversy related to Naseem’s age ignited after an interview given by Andy Roberts that was shot back in 2016 came attracted everyone’s sight. In that, the former West Indies cricketer was spotted talking about the young prodigy, who according to him was 16-years-old at that time.

Naseem Shah’s childhood coach opens up on his students’ age controversy 

Now, Suleiman Qadir, Naseem’s childhood coach denied with all the claims that are being made related to his age. Even, he said that Andy Roberts is not his father. In further explanation, Qadir recited that the young bowler came to his academy when he was 12-year-old.

“Andy Roberts is not Naseem Shah’s father. I can guarantee you that he is 16 years of age. He came to our academy some 4 years ago and was twelve then,” Suleiman, son of late spin legend Abdul Qadir said as quoted by Asian Age.

He also added that Naseem underwent a proper bone test that was conducted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). As per him, in his country, every person holds a smart card that gets converted into a national identity card wif anyone crosses 18. However, Naseem currently holds the smart card and as proof, he also has a birth certificate in which his date of birth is explicitly mentioned.

“He has undergone Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) conducted bones tests and a panel of doctors had also confirmed his age. Yes, in the past I do agree that in the absence of birth-certificates the age of certain cricketers was questioned. But in the case of Naseem Shah, he already has a birth certificate and a smart card. In our country, Smart Card becomes a National Identity Card when a person crosses 18 and Naseem is still holding the Smart Card.” he added.

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