Mohammad Rizwan: “We believe that Saim Ayub is the next superstar from Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan has backed power-hitting youngster Saim Ayub to be the country’s “next superstar.”
Ayub has made waves on the domestic circuit, but has yet to really hit his stride in international cricket.
In the 12 T20Is he has played, he has scored 162 runs at an average of 14.72 and a strike-rate of 124.61.
Most recently, the 21-year-old from Karachi represented Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and was only able to muster 39 runs in four games at an average of 9.75 and a strike-rate of 130.
Despite not having replicated his domestic form at the international level, Rizwan remains confident that Ayub will become the next big thing in Pakistan cricket.
“We believe that Saim Ayub is the next superstar from Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Ayub is now playing for the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), while Rizwan is captaining the Multan Sultans.
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
Multan Sultans Squad for PSL 9: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Iftikhar Ahmed, David Willey, Khushdil Shah, Usama Mir, Dawid Malan, Abbas Afridi, Reeza Hendricks, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Khan, Mohammad Ali, Faisal Akram, Yasir Khan, Chris Jordan, Aftab Ibrahim, Johnson Charles, Mohammad Shehzad