Pakistan have included the teenage pace duo of Musa Khan and Naseem Shah in their squad for series against Australia along with 19-year pacer Shaheen Afridi in their bid to play aggressive cricket and rattle the Australian batting.
Scheduled to play a two-match Test and three-match Twenty-20 International (T20I) series, Pakistan will travel to Australia next month under new Test captain Azhar Ali and new T20I captain Babar Azam.
Meanwhile, touted as two of the fastest bowlers in the domestic circuit of the country, 19-year-old Musa and 16-year-old Naseem are hopeful of making a grand entry to international cricket and disturb the Australian batsmen in their own den.
“I am not thinking about bowling to the likes of David Warner or Steve Smith, rather I want to make an impression with my pace and penetration,” Musa was quoted as saying in a press release issued by Pakistan Cricket Board on Tuesday.
“My strength is bowling fast. Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar are my fast bowling idols and I want to replicate their performances and instil fear in batsmen like they did,” he added.
Naseem, who has already created a reputation in domestic cricket for bowling sharp and lethal bouncers, is also gearing up for an immediate impact against the Australians. “I aim to make an impression with my speed and swing if given a chance in the Tests against Australia,” he said.
“The conditions in Australia help fast bowlers, my aim is to make maximum use of the conditions and give a tough time to the home side. Playing on hard and bouncy pitches will be a great experience and a learning curve for me,” he added.
According to the PCB press release, both the players, like their predecessors Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Hasnain, are products of the National Cricket Academy where they were fine-tuned and prepared for international assignments.
Musa made his breakthrough in international scenes during last year’s ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup by impressing everyone with his pace and control. Naseem, on the other hand, made his presence felt in a domestic Under-16 One-Day tournament, where he took four wickets in his first match and has not looked back since.
While Musa has been selected in both the Test and T20I squad, for the time being, Naseem will have his name in the whites only.