Mohammad Yousuf: “Exceptional Talent… Saim Ayub”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Yousuf, the former Pakistan batting coach, has identified aggressive top order batsman Saim Ayub as an “exceptional talent.”
Ayub rose to fame during the 2023 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he amassed 341 runs in 12 matches for the Peshawar Zalmi, which included five half-centuries, at an average of 28.41 and a strike-rate of 165.53.
The 21-year-old from Karachi was immediately drafted into the Pakistan team and featured in their T20I series against New Zealand and Afghanistan.
Lately, he has been involved in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he has accumulated 406 runs in 11 matches for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, which includes three fifties, at an average of 40.60 and a strike-rate of 145.
“Exceptional Talent… Saim Ayub,” Yousuf said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ayub was not part of Pakistan’s squad for the two-Test series against Sri Lanka or the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, which the men in green won 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.
He also wasn’t picked for the Asia Cup, where Pakistan began with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was washed out.
Having progressed to the Super Four stage, the men in green took down Bangladesh by seven wickets.
However, things went completely wrong from here as they lost to India by 228 runs and Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method, which led to them missing out on the Asia Cup final and being knocked out of the tournament.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Zaman Khan.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir