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Gloucestershire Cricket has confirmed the signing of Pakistan pace bowler Naseem Shah.
The 18-year-old rising star of the international game will be available to play in all formats of cricket for The Shire for the first few months of the 2022 season, up until the end of the club's participation in the T20 Vitality Blast tournament group stages. If Naseem, however, is called up for international duty from June onwards, he will be released back to Pakistan for participation with his national team. As an exciting talent, Shah has already played in nine Test matches for Pakistan since making his debut against Australia in 2019, aged 16, in a match that saw him claim the wicket of David Warner. Just a month after making his debut, Shah became the second youngest player in history to take a five-wicket haul in a single innings, with 5/31 against Sri Lanka. Speaking of his delight at signing for Glos, Naseem Shah said: "I'm extremely happy to be joining Gloucestershire and can't wait to experience playing in English cricket for the first time. I'm excited for what we can achieve as a team next season and will use all my skills to help Gloucestershire challenge for silverware across all formats." Shah is the fifth player to sign for The Shire since the end of the 2021 season and he will link up with the playing squad, including fellow new additions Marcus Harris, Ajeet Singh Dale, Paul van Meekeren and Zafar Gohar for pre-season training. Most recently Shah took part in two tournaments in Pakistan with Southern Punjab; the National T20 Cup competition in October and November as well as the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in December. He has also been selected for the Pakistan Test squad for a three match series against Australia in March. Shah's last Test appearance for Pakistan was against New Zealand, in January 2021, and he also featured heavily for Pakistan A during the team's tour of Sri Lanka in October and November last year. The right-arm fast bowler played in two Tests and an ODI against Sri Lanka A and finished the tour with standout figures of 5/53, 4/28 and 2/26 from the three fixtures. (ANI)
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