Naseem Shah names Root, Rohit and Smith in his dream hattrick; excludes Virat Kohli

At the age of 17, the right-arm pacer Naseem Shah has made a name for himself in the Pakistan national team setup, thanks to his raw pace and controlled line and length. While Shaheen Shah Afridi has made an impact from the other end, the 17-year-old was instrumental in the team’s win against Bangladesh earlier this year. 

In the Rawalpindi Test, the pacer accounted for the wickets of Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam, and Mahmudullah to become the youngest bowler to claim a hattrick. However, when asked about his dream hattrick, the 17-year-old named England’s Joe Root, India’s Rohit Sharma and the Australian Steve Smith as the three batsmen who he would like to pick in succession. One name that went missing was the Indian skipper Virat Kohli, who has already made a name for himself as one of the best batsmen around the world. 

The youngster also talked about Rohit Sharma’s ability to handle any kind of delivery and deemed his records for being one of the prime reasons for naming him in the dream hat trick. 

“Rohit Sharma has the ability to play all types of deliveries, be it short ones or good length deliveries. His records speak for itself and picking his wicket would be a dream come true for me,” he said in an interaction with Cricingif. 

Alongside that, Smith’s unorthodox technique combined with Joe Root’s form with the red ball has made him pick the two world-class batsmen on his list.

“Steve Smith is very unorthodox in his batting technique and getting him out would be a delight for me. In the past, I have had the opportunity to bowl to him but picking his wicket would be a good experience, given his form,” he added.

“On the other hand, Joe Root’s form in the longest format is world-class and it is very difficult to trouble him with the red ball. So getting him as part of the hattrick would be a big bonus for me, given his technique is next to exceptional.”

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