Asia Cup 2022: Naseem Shah, life in fast forward

From bowling barefoot to playing for Pakistan within five years of starting proper training to overcoming career-threatening injuries, the 19-year-old pace sensation's rapid evolution has put him in the spotlight in this Asia CupDUBAI: Two days after he limped off the field with cramps against India, Pakistan's pace sensation Naseem Shah was back in the nets delivering thunderbolts. All of 19, the spotlight has been chasing him here at the Asia Cup. In the days leading up to the first India-Pakistan game last Sunday, all the talk revolved around the absence of Shaheen Shah Afridi. In a matter of four overs, at the same venue where Afridi had dismantled India last October, Naseem staked his claim as the most lethal pacer in this tournament. Pakistan captain Babar Azam, in fact, went on to state after the match, "The way Naseem started, we didn't feel that we were missing Shaheen." Baby-faced and all of five-foot-seven inches, at first glance Naseem doesn't appear to be the quintessential tearaway, someone who can breach the 90-mph barrier with consistency. What is astounding is that he took to formal coaching barely five years ago.

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Pakistan set up a second showdown against arch-rivals India in as many weeks with a record 155-run win over Hong Kong in a must-win Asia Cup match here on Friday. Pakistan got a much-needed final flourish to post 193 for two. Hong Kong were simply blown away in the run-chase with the Pakistani

Former Pakistan leg-spinner Abdul Qadir's son Suleiman, who runs the Abdul Qadir International Cricket Academy in Lahore, remembers the first time he saw a 14-year-old Naseem. "He was wearing a salwar