Shaheen Shah Afridi: “If we give these players proper opportunities, they can go on to do well for Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Shaheen Shah Afridi plans to keep backing the big-hitting duo of Saim Ayub and Azam Khan as he wants them to do well in the future.
Both Ayub and Azam haven’t been able to live up to expectations at the international level following a string of disappointing scores.
However, Afridi knows the talent the pair possess and indicated that more chances will keep coming their way.
“If we give these players proper opportunities, they can go on to do well for Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In the recent five-match T20I series against New Zealand, Ayub mustered 39 runs in four games at an average of 9.75 and a strike-rate of 130.
Azam, meanwhile, made 22 runs in three matches at an average of 7.33 and a strike-rate of 115.78.
Next up for Ayub and Azam will be the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where they will represent the Peshawar Zalmi and Islamabad United respectively.
As for Afridi, he will captain the Lahore Qalandars.
PSL 9 will be played from February 17 to March 18 in four cities – Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph
Islamabad United Squad for PSL 9: Shadab Khan (captain), Naseem Shah, Jordan Cox, Imad Wasim, Azam Khan, Tymal Mills, Faheem Ashraf, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Rumman Raees, Matthew Forde, Salman Ali Agha, Qasim Akram, Shahab Khan, Hunain Shah, Ubaid Shah, Shamyl Hussain, Obed McCoy, Haider Ali, Muhammad Waseem
Lahore Qalandars Squad for PSL 9: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Rassie van der Dussen, Haris Rauf, David Wiese, Sahibzada Farhan, Sikandar Raza, Abdullah Shafique, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Mohammad Imran, Ahsan Hafeez, Dan Lawrence, Jahandad Khan, Syed Faridoun, Shai Hope, Kamran Ghulam, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Tayyab Abbas