Shahbaz Nadeem is a gutsy left-arm orthodox spinner who has proved his mettle time and again in the domestic circuit and the IPL. He is a natural wicket-taker and if given a longer run in the IPL can make a serious impression on the selectors.
Shahbaz started playing cricket for ‘Bihar Under-14’ cricket team. He got recognition in 2002 when he picked 9 wickets in a match against ‘Sikkim Under-15.’ He later moved to ‘Jharkhand’ to play some higher-level cricket. Shahbaz then made his first-class debut in 2004 for ‘Jharkhand’ against ‘Kerala’ in the ‘2004-05 Ranji Trophy’ at Jamshedpur, in which he picked 2 wickets in the first inning. His first-class debut earlier this season was impressive, but he found himself under the hammer against Australia in the Under-19 one-dayers, and played only one match in the Under-19 World Cup.
In the 2015-16 Ranji season, he was instrumental with the ball and bagged 51 wickets, becoming only the 6th bowler in the history to do so. To prove that it wasn't an one-off fluke, he repeated the performance in the next season, finishing as the highest wicket-taker with 56 scalps and that helped Jharkhand to make it to the semi-finals of Ranji Trophy.
In July 2018, he was named in the squad for India Red for the 2018–19 Duleep Trophy. In September 2018, in the 2018–19 Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture between Rajasthan and Jharkhand, Nadeem set a new List A cricket record, taking eight wickets for ten runs from 10 overs. He also took hat-trick of wickets while achieving that feat. He was the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with twenty-four dismissals in nine matches.
Nadeem started playing for ‘Delhi Daredevils’ (DD) from the 2011 season. In the 2012 IPL season Nadeem made a breakthrough in the Delhi Daredevils team with impressive performances. He was also one of the seven players nominated for IPL Rising Star of the year award. In the eight seasons that Nadeem stayed with Delhi, he played 61 matches and took 40 wickets. After not getting much opportunities with the Delhi franchise, Nadeem was transferred for a price of Rs. 3.2 crores from the Delhi Capitals to the Sunrisers Hyderabad side for the 2019 season. He played only 3 matches in the last season and will be hoping to get a longer run this time around.
Born in quaint little town of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, Shahbaz Nadeem was an early starter. In his early life, he stayed in Siwandih, Bokaro Steel City, and practiced in Bokaro Training Hostel. His father Javed Husn Ara Mahmood is a Police officer.
