'I hope I don't get a heart attack someday': 20-year-old Pakistan pace sensation after batting under extreme pressure

Pakistan's prodigious pace-bowling talent Naseem Shah has an uncanny ability of keeping his composure under extreme pressure and winning his team matches with the bat.

SportsTak

• Sat • 26 Aug 2023

Pakistan's prodigious pace-bowling talent Naseem Shah has an uncanny ability of keeping his composure under extreme pressure and winning his team matches with the bat. On August 24 (Thursday), Naseem once again delivered with the bat, stroking two boundaries, including the one to win the game for his team against Afghanistan at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Hambantota.

It was not the first time Naseem had pulled off a miraculous last-over heist. He had done it before and, against the same opposition as well. After the game, Naseem reflected on his responsibility with the bat under immense pressure and joked that he might get a heart attack someday.

"I would like to say that this year, with the chances I have got at the fag end of the innings, I hope I don't get a heart attack someday. I am very thankful to Allah and his grace as I always try to believe in myself in situations like that," said Shah in a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

"When I went inside, I believed in Shadab. I believed that we will finish the match. But when Shadab got out, I felt that the situation is now all mine. The bowlers are the same and I had the trust in myself to get the team over the line," he added.

After Naseem's heroics with the bat, Pakistan chased down the target of 301 runs with one ball and as many wickets to spare. As a result, Babar Azam's men took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Imam-ul-Haq scored 91 runs off 105 balls while skipper Babar played a handy knock of 53 runs off 66 balls. Shadab Khan's 48 runs off 35 balls turned the game in the Men in Green's corner after the middle-order batters left the team in a precarious position.

Earlier, Rahmanullah Gurbaz played a sensational knock of 151 runs off as many deliveries and helped Afghanistan post a competitive total of 300/5 in 50 overs.