Shoaib Malik: “Look, Saim Ayub is the kind of player who plays a high-risk game. Any batter who plays with high risk has fewer chances of consistent performance, but there is a lot of talent in him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik said it is tough for opening batsman Saim Ayub to score runs consistently as he “plays a high-risk game”.
Ayub has been subjected to increasing criticism for his failure to make any noteworthy scores in T20Is despite having been given a prolonged run.
So far, the 22-year-old has amassed 286 runs in 21 T20Is at an average of 15.05 and a strike-rate of 127.67.
In Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand, the Karachi-born batsman failed to have an impact, scoring 57 runs at an average of 14.25 and a strike-rate of 129.54.
He followed it up with 65 runs at an average of 21.66 and a strike-rate of 151.16 in the three-match T20I series against Ireland.
After that, he only mustered two runs in the one T20I he played against England.
Even though he hasn’t lived up to expectations so far, Malik pointed out that he is fully aware of the talent Ayub possesses.
“Look, Saim Ayub is the kind of player who plays a high-risk game. Any batter who plays with high risk has fewer chances of consistent performance, but there is a lot of talent in him,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan are now taking part in the 2024 T20 World Cup, but Ayub was not selected for the team’s first two games against the United States of America and India.
Having lost both those matches, the men in green find themselves in a precarious position going into their next game 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
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