Babar Azam: “Unfortunately, Saim Ayub couldn’t perform as expected. He is a game-changer but hasn’t had the opportunities he needed”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan captain Babar Azam has vowed to give more chances to Saim Ayub as he believes the struggling opening batsman is a “game-changer”.
Ayub has represented the men in green in 23 T20Is and scored 309 runs at an average of 14.71 and a strike-rate of 122.13.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 22-year-old was nowhere near good enough as he mustered 23 runs in two games at an average of 11.50 and a strike-rate of 79.31.
Azam acknowledged that Ayub “couldn’t perform as expected”, but reiterated that he will continue to back the talented big-hitter from Karachi.
“Unfortunately, Saim Ayub couldn’t perform as expected. He is a game-changer but hasn’t had the opportunities he needed,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Pakistan lost their first two T20 World Cup matches against the United States of America and India before fighting back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they won those two games, the men in green failed to make it through to the Super Eights.
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