Pakistan opener Saim Ayub: “I’m getting good starts, but I have to go long through the innings. The day I bat to the end of the innings will benefit the team”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Powerful Pakistan opening batsman Saim Ayub has admitted that good starts are not enough as he has to learn to convert them into big scores.
He noted that he has to start playing the longer game instead of looking to provide an initial burst of aggressive run-scoring.
The 21-year-old added that when he starts batting deep into the innings, or potentially right to the end, it “will benefit the team” and his own career as well.
“I’m getting good starts, but I have to go long through the innings. The day I bat to the end of the innings will benefit the team,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ayub recently represented the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and accumulated 345 runs in 11 matches, which included two fifties, at an average of 31.36 and a strike-rate of 157.53.
The Zalmi qualified for the playoffs in PSL 9, but were subsequently eliminated after they lost to the Multan Sultans in the Qualifier and eventual champions Islamabad United in Eliminator 2.
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