Naseem Shah Can Replicate my Bowling Attitude & Passion: Akhtar

Lahore: Shoaib Akhtar believes young fast bowler Naseem Shah can replicate his “bowling attitude and passion” among the current crop of Pakistan players.

“Among the present lot, I feel Naseem Shah can replicate my bowling attitude and passion. Naseem and I would have made a fine pair with the same attacking attitude,” Akhtar said.

The Rawalpindi Express made these comments while choosing a bowling partner to form a dream pair both from the list of former bowlers and the current lot representing Pakistan in Test cricket in the Digital Pairs series launched by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

Naseem, the youngest to record a Test hat-trick taker, also thanked Shoaib for choosing him as his bowling partner.

“Delighted to get Shoaib Akhtar’s recognition following acknowledgment by Wasim Akram. I want to thank Shoaib for nominating me as his bowling partner, these bowlers were my idols and getting recognised by them is nothing short of a big honour for me,” said Naseem.

“I agree that attitude and aggression are the keys to success for a fast bowler, I hope that I would live up to Shoaib’s expectations of me,” he added.

Among former bowlers, Akhtar picked legendary Pakistan captain Imran Khan as his bowler partner. “If I pick a former fast bowler, I feel I would have been very fortunate if I would have bowled with Imran Khan with both of us at the peak of our bowling careers. If we would have bowled together we would have had the same mindset of attacking the stumps relentlessly.”