'Babar Azam Suggested Me...' - Naseem Shah Clarifies Rumour About Injury

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Recently, the news of Pakistan bowler Naseem Shah nursing an injury was doing rounds on social media. The news picked up momentum after the bowler recently sat out in a Lanka Premier League match. 

The Pakistan young-gun recently represented Colombo Strikers in the ongoing Lanka Premier League, before his franchise got knocked out. He delivered some eye-catching performances in the LPL, picking up 10 wickets at an average of 19.40, an economy of 7.32, and a strike rate of 15.90 for the Colombo Strikers.

The young bowler has clarified that the news is not true, and gave his side of the story.

"I'm not injured, I was just tired. Babar Azam suggested me to take rest as we had Afghanistan ODIs and Asia Cup coming up. I was playing back-to-back matches and there was no time to take rest," said Naseem Shah, according to India.com.

Pakistan next play a series against Afghanistan, which will be followed by the Asia Cup, which will be jointly hosted by them and Sri Lanka. The big clash between India and Pakistan will be played on September 2 in Kandy. 

Naseem will be one of the key bowlers for Pakistan in the Asia Cup and the World Cup. The 20-year-old right-arm pacer has so far played 17 Tests, eight ODIs and 19 T20Is for Pakistan, from which he has 89 wickets combined.


Pakistan's Asia Cup squad

Babar Azam (c), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Haris, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Faheem Ashraf, Shadab Khan (vc), Mohammad Nawaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Usama Mir.