Gloucestershire Cricket have confirmed the signing of 18-year-old pace bowler Naseem Shah.
The youngster is a rising star in the sport, and has already played internationally for his country Pakistan.
Shah will be available in all formats for the Shires until the end of the club’s participation in the T20 Vitality Blast tournament group stages, however, should he be called up for international duty from June onwards, he will be released back to Pakistan to play for his nation.
After impressing at a junior, Shah was promoted to the Pakistan senior team, making his debut aged just 16, against Australia in 2019. He was played a total of nine matches for Pakistan so far.
Not long after making his debut for Pakistan, Shah became the second-youngest player in history to take a five-wicket haul in a single inning, with 5/31 against Sri Lanka.
In the summer of 2020, Shah played against England in a test match at Old Trafford, a game that England won by three wickets. He finished on 1/44 with a bowling economy of 2.75 in the first innings, taking the wicket of Ollie Pope in the process, before taking the wicket of England captain Joe Root in the second inning.
In an interview with the club site, 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 Gloucestershire since the end of the 2021 season, joining fellow new signings Marcus Harris, Ajeet Singh Dale, Paul van Meekeren and Zafar Gohar, and the rest of the squad for pre-season training.
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