The Pakistan Pacer Naseem Shah recalled his T20I debut and shared his experience of bowling for Virat Kohli.
Naseem Shah on his T20I debut
The 21-year-old bowler Naseem Shah made his T20I debut during the match against India in the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai. He bowled four overs in the match dismissing two batters for 27 runs.
He also bowled against Indian star Virat Kohli where the batter struggled against Naseem Shah. He also dismissed KL Rahul in the second delivery of his T20I debut.
While speaking in the post-match interview, he remembered how he put pressure on Kohli with an in-swinger and out-swinger saying, “When Virat Kohli came in to bat, I thought he would go hard. So I bowled an in-swinger hoping that it might catch his pad but he let it go.”
“The next delivery I bowled an out-swinger, caught the edge but yeah, the catch got dropped. But it was a good experience because when you make your debut against a big team and under so much pressure then you get a margin in other matches.”
Kohli and Jadeja scored 35 runs each with Hardik Pandya completing the innings where India chased the score of 148 runs and won the match by 5 wickets.
Naseem Shah revealed that he was a bit nervous but previously playing in the Tests and ODIs has calmed his nerves.
“I have good memories of my T20I debut against India. India versus Pakistan is the most important match when it comes to the crowds and intensity on the field and that was my debut match.”
“I was naturally a bit nervous since it was my debut. But the good thing for me was that I had played a lot of cricket before, I had played Tests and ODIs, which helped me.”
Naseem Shah missed the ODI World Cup 2023 due to his shoulder injury and is set to return to professional cricket in PSL 9.
As per the PSL 2024 schedule, Lahore Qalandars and Islamabad United will be playing in the first match on February 17 at Gaddafi Stadium.
