New Delhi, November 22
Naseem Shah, the 16-year-old Pakistani pace sensation, has brought the spotlight on south Asia’s cricketing prodigies.
The 20 youngest players to figure in a Test match are from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. This raises the question — are players from these countries more precocious from the other countries? Interestingly, there could be some conjecture about Naseem Shah’s age. On December 1, 2018, Pakistani cricket journalist Saj Sadiq tweeted: “Highly rated 17-year-old pace bowler Nasim Shah who was signed by Quetta Gladiators for the Pakistan Super League has suffered a back injury. He is back in training and hopes to be fit for PSL4 #Cricket #PSL4.” If Shah was 17 in December 2018, he should have turned 18 February 15 this year. Did Saj Sadiq make a mistake, or is there more to it?
The most celebrated teenager in cricket in the 1990s was Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi. Officially born on March 1, 1980, Afridi was 16 when he smashed a 37-ball century against Sri Lanka in his first ODI innings in 1996. But in his autobiography, released earlier this year, Afridi revealed that he was actually born in 1975. If his autobiography is accurate, he was 21 when he made his debut in 1996.
Another Pakistani, Hasan Raza, debuted at 14 years and 227 days. But when the Pakistan Cricket Board made efforts to verify his age, medical examinations suggested that he was “around 15”.
For another cricket-playing major force in the region, Sri Lanka, several teenagers have played Test cricket, the youngest being Sanjeewa Weerasinghe, who debuted at 17 years and 189 days against India in 1985. — Agencies
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/34fiAKm
via Today’s News Headlines
No comments: