'He is very special' - Sohail Tanvir hails Naseem Shah for becoming the youngest bowler to scalp Test hat-trick

Pakistan teenage sensation Naseem Shah has garnered headlines in the past few months for his precocious raw talent and also the controversy surrounding his age. But in the recently concluded Test match against Bangladesh, Shah stormed his way into the record books when he became the youngest bowler in the history of Test cricket to claim a hat-trick.

Shah became the first Pakistani bowler since 2002 and fourth overall to claim a Test match hat-trick, joining the likes of  Wasim Akram, all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Sami in 1999, 2000 and 2002 respectively- all of whom came against Sri Lanka.

Following his hat-trick, Shah has been garnering praise from former cricketers and fans. Former Pakistan bowler Sohail Tanvir, who has seen Naseem Shah from close quarters while training with Pakistan Super League side Quetta Gladiators and the southpaw believes Pakistan may have unearthed a gem in the 16-year-old.

“Unfortunately Naseem was injured for the PSL last year, but when I first saw him in the nets I thought this kid has serious talent, I’ve never seen someone of that age bowl so fast and he can bowl with control as well,” Sohail Tanvir said as quoted by Sportstar.

“He has incredible ability and is a really exciting talent. To play Test cricket at that age and make the step up like he has is amazing. He is very special. He’s a quiet guy, he doesn’t say a lot, but he knows if he needs to ask any of the senior players for advice then we are there for that,” he added.

Sohail Tanvir places his bets on Pakistan’s youngsters

Pakistan have unearthed quite a few precocious talents like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah in the past season or two and Tanvir believes that the Men in Green- courtesy a good combination of youth and experience- could become a consistent team across all the three formats in the upcoming years.

“We have seen youngsters coming in and developing, such as Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah. We are seeing some serious talent and the day will come where you have the right combination’ Sohail Tanvir said.

“We have Babar Azam and we hope to see more young batting talent come through, then we have [Mohammad] Hafeez and [Shoaib] Malik now to offer a mixture of youth and experience. I’m hopeful Pakistan cricket is in good hands and I really hope things will keep getting better,” he added.

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