Rawalpindi
\nPakistan pacer Naseem Shah said Friday he is enjoying the challenge in the absence of lead fast-bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi during the historic Test series against England.
\nShaheen was ruled out of the Test series after aggravating his knee injury during the T20 World Cup 2022 final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium on November 13.
\nThe left-arm pacer landed awkwardly while taking England batter Harry Brook\u2019s catch.
\nYoung pacer Naseem is leading the bowling attack of the home side during the three-match Test series, and among the pacers, he has more Test caps than Haris Rauf and Mohammad Ali, who are making their debut against the English side in the first Test series at the Pindi Cricket Stadium.
\n\u201cObviously, Shaheen has given great performances. Challenges are fun in life. I enjoy challenges,\u201d the young pacer said during a press conference following the end of day two.
\n\u201cI enjoy my cricket and bowling. I motivate myself to bowl according to the requirements of the team and I try my best and the rest, God takes care of,\u201d Shah said.
\nAfter a rough day on Thursday, Shah ended England\u2019s first innings with three wickets.
\nTalking about the transition from T20 cricket to the longest format of the game, Shah said it\u2019s the beauty of cricket that every morning there is something new to do.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not an easy situation but as a professional cricketer, you don\u2019t have anything else except cricket. Sometimes mornings are hard, but the only thing in our hands is to try and do our best irrespective of the condition of the pitch. It took some time to get used to it but I finally felt better today,\u201d he added.
\nIt must be noted that, in reply to the mammoth score of 657 runs, Pakistan opening batters Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq put on a great display on Friday, amassing 89 and 90 runs, respectively, to help the home side reach 181-0 in 51 overs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Rawalpindi Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah said Friday he is enjoying the challenge in the absence of lead fast-bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi during the historic Test series against England. Shaheen was ruled out of the Test series after aggravating his knee injury during the T20 World Cup 2022 final against England at the Melbourne Cricket Stadium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-298941","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n