Naseem Shah names the batsmen, consisting of his dream hat-trick in international cricket

Naseem Shah, the young Pakistan fast-bowling sensation, has named the three batsmen, he would like to dismiss to get a hat-trick in international cricket. To start with, he named England’s Joe Root, who’s also the captain of the Three Lions’ Test side. After Root, Shah went for Rohit Sharma, who has been a dominant force for Team India, across formats in the last few months.

Last year in the World Cup, he smashed five centuries- the most by any batter in a single edition of the mega event. There were doubts over his credentials as a Test batsman. However, he smashed a double century against South Africa and quashed all the doubts. It was also the first time that he opened the batting in the longer format. He also has four T20I tons to his name.

Shah put forth his opinions during an interview with Cricingif. As the last batsman, Naseem zeroed in on Steve Smith, Australia’s bedrock in the Test side. Smith is currently the ICC’s number-one ranked Test batsman. He has lost the spot to Indian skipper Virat Kohli on quite a few instances. But the right-hander has managed to rack up stupendous comebacks to show his calibre.

Naseem Shah didn’t pick Kohli

Interestingly, Shah didn’t pick Kohli among the three batsmen. Earlier, the 17-year-old said that he has immense respect for the Delhi-born, but he also said that he doesn’t get intimidated by him. “I hope that I can bowl well against India when that chance comes by and won’t let our fans down. As for Virat Kohli, I respect him but don’t fear him,” Naseem was quoted as saying.

Naseem made his debut against Australia last year after Pakistan decided to revamp their squad following a disastrous home series against Sri Lanka. In his maiden Test at the Gabba in Brisbane, Shah dismissed David Warner, but it turned out to be a no-ball.

In February, he became the youngest bowler to get a Test hat-trick against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. He got a five-wicket haul against Sri Lanka as well at the same venue. Thereafter, he went on to ply his trade for the Quetta Gladiators, led by former national skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed.