After a gutsy performance on his T20I debut against India, not many would forget Naseem Shah's name soon. The young pacer rekindled many fans' memories of the last time Pakistan faced India by triggering a top-order collapse once again. Having gotten rid of KL Rahul off just his second ball, he almost dismissed Virat Kohli. But after the match, an old tweet of Shah's age seemed to have stirred up a controversy about the cricketer, who is currently known to be 19 years of age. This tweet, by popular Pakistan journalist Saj Sadiq claims that Shah was 17 years old in 2018 when he suffered a back injury. 'Crying or Wiping Sweat?' Naseem Shah's Video of Leaving Pitch During India vs Pakistan Asia Cup 2022 Cricket Match Goes Viral

Naseem Shah ‘Age’ in 2018:

Since then, it seems that Shah has aged twice in four years as recently, he was mentioned to be 19 years of age. There clearly seems to be something wrong here. Even former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif highlighted this on social media a year after Sadiq's tweet.

Naseem Shah ‘Age’ in 2019:

With the bowler making his T20I debut against India in the Asia Cup 2022 a few days ago, he was applauded as a 19-year-old for his good performance. Even the Pakistan Cricket Board's official website has Shah's age registered as 19 years.

Naseem Shah's age on PCB website (Photo credit: PCB)

Naseem Shah Age Confusion!

Quite interestingly, Shah went on to become the youngest fast bowler to take a hat-trick in Test history in 2020, in a match where he was registered as a 16-year-old. According to a report, even the Pakistan Cricket Board had barred him from participating in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa in 2020.

Although the official reason was that he had already made his senior team debut, a source in The Dawn quoted, "Sources said that PCB's doctors in their reports could not ascertain Shah's exact date of birth because they are of the view that no reliable scientific way is available to determine that while no international sporting bodies recognizes bone test as the authentic parameter to decide any player's age."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 31, 2022 03:44 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).