Pakistan's emerging pace sensation Naseem Shah has penned a heartfelt message after missing out on World Cup selection with a shoulder injury. The 20-year-old youngster took to 'X' formerly Twitter to pen a heartfelt message after he was not included in Pakistan's 15-member World Cup squad on Friday, September 22.
"With a heavy heart, I'm sharing that I will not be part of this amazing team that will be representing our beloved country. While I'm disappointed, I believe everything is in Allah's hands. InshahAllah will be on the field very soon.
Thank you to all my fans for the prayers!" captioned his post on X.
The right-arm pacer sustained the injury against India in a Super Four clash on the reserve day of the game. The chief selector of the Pakistan Cricket Board's selection committee Inzamam-ul-Haq informed that the comeback of the tearaway quick can't be ascertained at the moment.
Pakistan have included the right-arm pacer Hasan Ali in place of Naseem in their World Cup squad. Hasan brings a plethora of experience with him. He has played 60 ODIs for Pakistan and claimed 91 scalps at an average of 30.36. Hasan also has a fairly impressive economy rate in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) - 5.75.
Naseem's absence is undoubtedly a massive blow for the 1992 World Cup winners but the presence of bowlers like Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf among others still adds a lot of venom to their pace attack.
Babar will be leading the team at the multi-nation event and will have leg spinner Shadab Khan for assistance as his deputy.
Pakistan squad for the World Cup:
Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Hasan Ali