The 16-years-old pacer Naseem Shah enjoyed his time bowling in front of the home crowd on Day 1 of the first historic Test at Pindi Stadium.
Shah, who took two wickets on opening day, briefed media in a post-day conference where he expressed his feelings to be a part of Test cricket’s return to the country after 10 years.
“I saw Australian bowlers getting praise from their home crowd and I wanted to experience such an atmosphere. Today, I got that chance. I really enjoyed my time on the field today and I want to thank them for coming to the stadium and making this effort successful,” the young schoolboy said.
Shah said that he was being asked to bowl on his natural line and length which he executed well. “I tried to keep my natural strength ticking. I am happy to deliver for my team at the right moment,” said Shah who broke a well-set partnership of Angelo Mathew and Dhananjay Silva in the last session of the day.
He got Mathews out for 31 runs with a wide delivery outside off stump which went straight to Asad Shafiq’s hand in the slips.
The young pacer is hopeful to get visitors out earlier on Day 2 most probably before the 250-run mark. “Had bad light not interrupt we might have got a couple of wickets more the way we were bowling,” he added.
It must be noted here that Sri Lanka finished Day 1 of the opening Test at 202-5 despite a strong opening start.
