Raja predicts bright future for ‘clever’ Naseem Shah

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja has predicted a bright future for the 16-year-old Men in Green’s pacer Naseem Shah, ahead of the two-match Test series against Australia.

While speaking in a Youtube video, the famous commentator was particularly impressed with the control in the young pacer’s bowling against Australia A in a recent tour match in Perth.

“Whatever little we have seen of Naseem, it is apparent that he is clever, knows how to bowl and has amazing control,” said Raja. “If at a young age, you know what lines and lengths to bowl and can adjust yourself according to the batsman, then it means you have a bright future.”

“He can be good future investment regardless of whether he performs against Australia or not,” he added.

The 57-year-old also warned against overburdening the young pacer with too much responsibility.

“We still have to see how he goes fitness wise as any bowler can have an impressive initial burst. It would be important for him to sustain his pace in the later spells and maintain the same intensity throughout the session,” he said. “He has suffered from fitness issues before as he got a stress fracture at an early age. Hence it is important to not overburden him with too much bowling.”

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“It is a very difficult to handle the pressure of being the best pacer in the team,” he added.

Raja is looking forward to seeing how Naseem fares against the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner in the upcoming series against Australia.

“There are a lot of expectations from him and it remains to be seen how he performs against world class batsmen like Smith and Warner,” he said. “He has talent, a simple action which reminds me of Richard Hadlee and I hope he lives up to the expectations.”