Wahab Riaz: “His inclusion will strengthen our solid batting line-up”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan chief selector Wahab Riaz believes uncapped Test batsman Saim Ayub can bolster the batting line-up.
Ayub was selected for the ongoing three-match Test series against Australia after dominating in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, which is Pakistan’s first-class competition.
In the four matches he played for Karachi Region Whites, the 21-year-old amassed 553 runs, which included three centuries, at an average of 79.
He followed that up by being the highest run-scorer in the Pakistan Cup as he scored 397 runs in eight games, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 49.62.
“Saim Ayub has been added to the squad after the extraordinary domestic season he has had this year. He has impressed with the bat during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy and Pakistan Cup, pushing the case for his selection. His inclusion will strengthen our solid batting line-up,” Wahab was quoted as saying by Cricwick.
Pakistan lost the first Test against Australia by 360 runs, but Ayub was not included in the playing XI.
The men in green decided to make changes to their line-up for the second Test in Melbourne, but he was not selected again.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz and Shaheen Shah Afridi
[TS_Poll id=”85″]