He's nowhere in the top bowlers and yes I didn't see him bowl. I can only go from what he produced statistically and that seems to match how he used to bowl when I last saw him.
He might have done decent when you were watching but this kind of over hyping like we typically do is not warranted.
He's the 2nd highest wicket-taker.
Amongst spinners, he has been one of the guys with good performances. An average of 30 is good this season, very few have done better.
[table=class:grid][tr][td]
Name[/td][td]
Age[/td][td]
Skill[/td][td]
Team[/td][td]
Mats[/td][td]
Wkts[/td][td]
BB[/td][td]
Ave[/td][td]
4wl[/td][td]
5wl[/td][td]
S. Rate[/td][td]
Econ[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Nauman Ali[/td][td]33 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Northern[/td][td]9[/td][td]46[/td][td] 8-71[/td][td]23.04[/td][td]2[/td][td]5[/td][td]42.24[/td][td]3.27[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Zafar Gohar[/td][td]25 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Central Punjab[/td][td]10[/td][td]36[/td][td] 7-79[/td][td]30.36[/td][td]4[/td][td]1[/td][td]59.97[/td][td]3.04[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Bilal Asif[/td][td]34 years[/td][td] RAO[/td][td]Central Punjab[/td][td]8[/td][td]27[/td][td] 4-33[/td][td]26.56[/td][td]3[/td][td]0[/td][td]50.96[/td][td]3.13[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Mohammad Asghar[/td][td]21 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Balochistan[/td][td]8[/td][td]26[/td][td] 6-121[/td][td]35.46[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]57.38[/td][td]3.71[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Sajid Khan[/td][td]26 years[/td][td] RAO[/td][td]Khyber Pakhtunkhwa[/td][td]6[/td][td]22[/td][td] 5-36[/td][td]26.73[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]52.82[/td][td]3.04[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Mohammad Irfan[/td][td]30 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Southern Punjab[/td][td]8[/td][td]22[/td][td] 5-131[/td][td]43.05[/td][td]1[/td][td]2[/td][td]81.55[/td][td]3.17[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Yasir Shah[/td][td]34 years[/td][td] RALB[/td][td]Balochistan[/td][td]5[/td][td]21[/td][td] 5-104[/td][td]39.52[/td][td]1[/td][td]1[/td][td]67.43[/td][td]3.52[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Kashif Bhatti[/td][td]33 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Sindh[/td][td]4[/td][td]14[/td][td] 4-108[/td][td]29.86[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]78[/td][td]2.3[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Zahid Mahmood[/td][td]32 years[/td][td] RALB[/td][td]Southern Punjab[/td][td]8[/td][td]11[/td][td] 2-57[/td][td]89.55[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]128[/td][td]4.2[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Shadab Khan[/td][td]21 years[/td][td] RALB[/td][td]Northern[/td][td]2[/td][td]9[/td][td] 4-151[/td][td]28.22[/td][td]1[/td][td]0[/td][td]49.22[/td][td]3.44[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]
Hassan Khan[/td][td]21 years[/td][td] LAO[/td][td]Sindh[/td][td]3[/td][td]8[/td][td] 2-37[/td][td]39.5[/td][td]0[/td][td]0[/td][td]75.25[/td][td]3.15[/td][/tr][/table]
Out of this list, only Nauman and Sajid have done fairly better. Sajid has been playing in the latter part of the tournament when most of the players have been away for Aus tour, Emerging Cup, etc. Haven't seen much of him.
Nauman has been fairly impressive and he has won Northern some crunch games so he might be selected. But he's officially 33 and looks older than that, there's a lot more upside to Zafar who is also averaging around 30 with the bat this season plus he's much younger.
While we're on this topic, I don't know what the deal is with Bilal and tailenders... of his 27 wickets, around 17 are batsmen at #7 and lower.