Here is how Naseem Shah can become less injury-prone

Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood believes that rookie pacer Naseem Shah will become less injury-prone when he starts playing regular cricket.

Sharing his thoughts in his latest blog for pakpassion.net, Mahmood said that young bowlers generally tend to have a higher chance of sustaining injuries.

“It is a well-known fact that younger bowlers are prone to injuries and this is not something that Naseem Shah is prone to specifically. We saw that in the earlier days of their careers, even Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis suffered injuries. This is because the body of a young bowler is still getting used to the workload, so chances of sustaining injuries is higher,” said Mahmood.

“Naseem Shah has already had injuries as we saw on the Australia tour and also recently in PSL as well. It’s not always going to be easy for a bowler like Naseem as he bowls around 145KpH,” he added.

Mahmood also stressed on the importance of Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis’ role in this regard.

“He will need to be looked after by the PCB and attention needs to be given to his fitness as well. His action does make him a candidate for injury, but I am confident that Waqar Younis as bowling coach of Pakistan and his coaching colleagues will take care of these issues for Naseem,” he said. “Regardless of this, it’s when Naseem Shah plays more cricket and his body gets used to stresses is when he will become less prone to injury. This is similar to how Shaheen Shah Afridi has progressed, and this is how I expect Naseem to develop in the future as he plays more cricket.”

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Multan Sultans’ bowling coach also believes that his side should be awarded the Pakistan Super League title, after the event was postponed indefinitely due to global spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) before the knockout stage of the tournament, if this season does not resume.    

“Whilst it was unfortunate that the PSL was postponed due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control but I am in agreement with Shahid Afridi regarding his idea of awarding the title to the table-toppers, namely Multan Sultans,” said Mahmood.

“The fact is that each of the sides had played 10 games at the time when the tournament was stopped. Given that all teams had played equal games and no further matches were possible, Afridi’s suggestion makes a lot of sense. It’s a fair call in my view as Multan Sultans were far ahead of the other sides at 14 points and if the PSL is not able to resume then handing the title to us would be the right thing to do,” he added.