Naseem Shah Opens Up About T20I World Cup Exit: Cricket is everything when it comes to sports in India and Pakistan. And when these two countries meet paths in sport, it paves the way for the biggest carnival, draws the most eyeballs, and a win would win a lot of hearts in the respective country.
But it comes with a greater price if you lose. The same people who were crying for you to win will turn their cheers into boos. The good words in social media take a U-turn and your mental health? It hits rock bottom.
Pakistan cricket has been going through one of its worst times in history. Not getting anything special in the ODI World Cup and getting embarrassed and knocked out of the T20I World Cup by losing to a team as small as the USA, the one thing that might have hurt them the most would be slipping India’s match away in between their fingers. Losing a winning match to India hurts to the core.
Naseem Shah Opens Up About T20I World Cup Exit
The backlash was inevitable. Fans, pundits, former cricketers—everyone called them out. It was brutal! Naseem Shah, who is one of the best bowlers in the Greens, opens up about the experience in an interview he gave to Cricbuzz.
“There are a lot of emotions attached with such matches. I did not expect [the result to turn out how it did]. There are some things that you keep to yourself. A lot had pent-up and a lot of things flashed in front of me at that point… There have been very few moments in life when I have felt the need to have someone who can talk positively to me.”
“Though I was not being targeted by the fans or the media, one cannot be satisfied and say I did my bit after your team loses. I am a person who wants to win. I get disappointed even when I lose while playing at home or in my street. I play to win and the World Cup exit pained me a lot.
Even after two months, the mainstream as well as social media haven’t stopped crucifying the players. Naseem talks about being countered in public places.
“People come up to me in restaurants and ask me why we lost. Even my relatives have asked about it. I understand their sentiments are driven by the social media and, as a player, all I can do is listen to them.
This amount of scrutiny could break one. But it could also sow a flair of desire to come back and prove everyone wrong. And when you play the sport at its flashiest level, it comes with greater repercussions if you lose. Naseem understands that.
“There are times when you feel that you cannot put up with it anymore. But, it also burns a desire for a comeback. People had many questions to ask and there was a lot of frustration in them, which is understandable. Now, we have an opportunity to win the hearts again by playing good cricket.”
After the excruciating exit from the T20I World Cup, Naseem took his time with the family for the most part, and it helped him to balance his mental health.
“Family helps you to connect to your true self. You realize there was a life before cricket and there is one beyond it. The world knows you because of cricket and they will talk to you about it. But, when you are with the family, they will talk to you about other aspects of life and you realize that ‘I am not just a cricketer but I am a son of this family’. It is a good diversion from cricket.”
Naseem and his team now have the golden opportunity to set a comeback as his team is meeting Bangladesh today for the first Test in the 2-match series. Right after this, they have a 3-match Test series against England in October. Naseem is well prepared for these long matches by practicing at the National Cricket Academy and Ghani Glass Academy in Lahore during the vacation.
“It is called ‘Test’ because it tests you physically and mentally. You get frustrated when you don’t get a wicket and have to spend considerable amounts of time in the ground. So, the preparation is simple: increasing the bowling load and stay in the ground for longer. Just be in the ground from 10am until 5pm. Be more disciplined and consistent with the ball. The actual test is to be repetitive and bowl on the same spot repeatedly.”
“It is not easy to dismiss batters in Tests. You get wickets in white-ball cricket because they go for slogs and end up making mistakes. You may go for runs, but you know wickets are around the corner.
Whatever comes with great headwork would be sweeter and probably will last longer in your memories.
“But, you don’t forget the wickets that you get in Test cricket. You remember them for your whole life, because you have earned them with your hard work. It is only you who know how consistent you have been to get those wickets. You relish those dismissals when you watch them on TV and they bring back the memories of the set-ups that you had laid to get them. So, that’s the difference, you need a lot of passion in Test cricket.”
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