Challenges are fun in life, I enjoy challenges - Naseem Shah

Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah says he loves the challenge of stepping in for the injured Shaheen Shah Afridi during the historic Test series against England.

After aggravating his knee injury during the T20 World Cup 2022 final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium on November 13, Shaheen was ruled out of the Test series.

ALSO READ: Shafique and Haq give Pakistan solid start after England's 657

The left-arm pacer landed awkwardly while taking England batter Harry Brook's catch.

Young pacer Naseem is in charge of the home team's bowling attack during the three-match Test series. Among pacers, he has more Test appearances (13) compared to Haris Rauf and Mohammad Ali, who are making their Test series debuts against the three lions in the opening Test at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.

"Obviously, Shaheen has given great performances. Challenges are fun in life. I enjoy challenges. I enjoy my cricket and bowling. I motivate myself to bowl according to the team's requirements, and I try my best, and the rest, God takes care of," he said during a press conference following the end of day two.

Naseem finished up England's first innings with three wickets following a tough day on Thursday.

When asked about the adjustment from T20 cricket to the longest version of the game, Naseem replied it's the beauty of cricket because there's something fresh to do every morning.

"It's not an easy situation, but as a professional cricketer, you don't have anything else except cricket. Sometimes mornings are hard, but the only thing in our hands is to try and do our best irrespective of the condition of the pitch. It took some time to get used to it, but I finally felt better today," he added.

It must be noted that England scored a mammoth score of 657 runs in the first innings of the first Test, and in reply, Pakistan lost their first wicket of Abdullah Shafique after he got caught behind after scoring a century. The hosts are now 251 for the loss of two wickets.