Rawalpinidi - Pakistan’s Naseem Shah carved out his own little piece of history on Sunday as he became the youngest bowler to claim a hat-trick in Test cricket - six days before his 17th birthday.
The teenager - aged only 16 years and 359 days - achieved the feat against Bangladesh, shattering the previous record held by Bangladesh’s leg-spinner Alok Kapali, who was 19 when he claimed three consecutive scalps, curiously enough against Pakistan in Peshawar in 2003. Naseem was on the fourth ball of his seventh over when he trapped Najumul Hossain Shanto lbw with Bangladesh on 124-2 at the time. The scoreboard was about to look a lot more attractive for the hosts in Rawalpindi as the youngster repeated the feat to dismiss Taijul Islam lbw. Haris Sohail then caught Naseem’s delivery to send Mahmudullah packing and leave Bangladesh reeling at 124-5.
Naseem, who made his name when he got into the squad for Pakistan’s tour of Australia last year, has already been in the headlines as he is also the youngest fast bowler to take five wickets in a Test innings. He achieved that feat at 16 years and 307 days against Sri Lanka in Karachi last year. Naseem finished the day (Sunday) with impressive figures of 4-26. “It was an outstanding second spell by Naseem ... and I really enjoyed watching him bowling in the field,” Babar Azam said. “The best thing about Naseem is that he bowls according to the plan and he’s learning fast.”