Ramiz Raja: “First, Saim Ayub coming as an opener. I don’t think Pakistan should continue with Saim. He has been given too many chances and you have to do better in [international] cricket. He is undercooked”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja believes opening batsman Saim Ayub should no longer be picked in the team as he “has been given too many chances”.
Ayub has failed to impress in a majority of the T20Is he has played, scoring 286 runs in 21 matches at an average of 15.05 and a strike-rate of 127.67.
In Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand, the 22-year-old only managed to muster 57 runs at an average of 14.25 and a strike-rate of 129.54.
He fared a little better in the three-match T20I series against Ireland, amassing 65 runs at an average of 21.66 and a strike-rate of 151.16.
Most recently, he struck two runs in the one T20I he played against England.
“First, Saim Ayub coming as an opener. I don’t think Pakistan should continue with Saim. He has been given too many chances and you have to do better in [international] cricket. He is undercooked,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel as quoted by A Sports.
Ayub is currently part of Pakistan’s team in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but wasn’t included in the playing XI for the first two games against the United States of America and India.
The men in green lost both matches and are teetering on the brink of elimination going into their fixture against Canada on June 11.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
The entire team needs to be changed. During the Kerry Packer series, Australia called out of retirement, Bobby Simpson to lead the team. Pakistan too should pick somebody like Younus and entrust him to lead with meritorious players. The results will be different.