Pakistan have announced their ODI and T20I squads to face Australia, with the exclusion of Naseem Shah causing a stir among fans and pundits.

Naseem, a 19-year-old right-arm quick capable of reaching speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour, has played 10 Tests for Pakistan with mixed success, making his debut as a 16-year-old against Australia in 2019, and recalled for the first Test against the same opposition in the ongoing series.

He is uncapped in white-ball cricket, but enjoyed a breakthrough campaign in the 2022 edition of the Pakistan Super League, taking 14 wickets – the most by a Quetta Gladiators bowler – with Shaheen Shah Afridi the only quick in the competition to take more wickets and maintain a lower economy rate.

Naseem has earned comparisons to Shaheen for his new-ball exploits, with former West Indies quick and esteemed pundit Ian Bishop noting the similarities. Naseem was also one of three specialist quicks named in the official PSL team of the tournament. 

Naseem Shah doing his best Shaheen Afridi encore🙂🙂🙂🙂.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) February 15, 2022

It has therefore come as a surprise to many that Naseem has been unable to find a place in either of Pakistan’s squads to face Australia in both formats, with a three match ODI series followed by a one-off T20I after the Test series concludes.

🤦‍♂️Naseem Shah not included in whiteball squad of Pakistan against Australia is quite disappointing. Naseem was highly expected to replace out of form fastbowlers. Naseem has improved in recent times alot but excluding after just one test match on comeback is an injustice #PAKvAUS

— Arfa Feroz Zake (@ArfaSays_) March 17, 2022

Naseem Shah should be in the Pakistan T20 team😒🤷‍♂️ #PAKvAUS

— hazharoon (@hazharoon) March 17, 2022

There has been some speculation that Naseem’s performance in the first Test against Australia counted against him. He returned match figures of 1-89 as the game petered out to a draw. However, mitigation can be found in the fact that the pitch was rated ‘below average’ because of the lack of assistance given to the bowlers. That one wicket was also a special one, a length ball sneaking past Alex Carey’s outside edge to clip off-stump.

Naseem Shah has immensely improved his limited overs game and I'm sure he would have been close to selection, along with Zaman Khan. Pakistan is blessed to have so many options in the bowling department and young ones too, they will serve Pakistan for a long time. #PAKvAUS

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) March 17, 2022

The question is, who should Pakistan have left out if Naseem deserved to be included? The T20I squad is already an expanded one, with 17 players available for a one-off game. The quicks in that group are Shaheen Shah Afridi, Hasan Ali and Haris Rauf, three of Pakistan’s senior fast bowlers, with Shahnawaz Dahani and Mohammad Wasim Jr. rounding out the pace quartet.

Wasim Jr. is another highly rated youngster, 20 years old and with an impressive burgeoning T20I record. He has 15 wickets in 10 games with an economy rate just above eight runs per over. But he also endured a sub-par PSL campaign, taking eight wickets in eight games and leaking runs at more than 11 an over.

Dahani has played two T20Is, against Bangladesh and West Indies at the tail-end of last year, with an economy rate of 6.71 across both games. However, while he claimed 16 wickets to Naseem’s 14 in the PSL, he conceded over a run per over more than Naseem, and is also four years his senior.

Perhaps the comfort for Pakistan fans upset at Naseem’s exclusion is that if he really is as good as they say he is, then at the age of 19, he has plenty of time ahead of him for a long successful career, and missing a few white-ball games against Australia is unlikely to change that.

Pakistan ODI squad to face Australia: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Abdullah Shafique, Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imam-Ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jr., Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.

Pakistan T20I squad to face Australia: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Asif Afridi, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jr., Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir.