Mushtaq Ahmed: “Saim has shown talent, hasn’t he, Azam came in the middle overs and hit sixes in the PSL”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed has urged the selectors not to drop big-hitting batsman Saim Ayub and Azam Khan.
Both players have shown great promise in domestic cricket and franchise T20 tournaments, but have been unable to replicate that success in international cricket.
Ayub has amassed 309 runs in 23 T20Is at an average of 14.71 and a strike-rate of 122.13.
As for Azam, he has mustered 88 runs in 14 T20Is at an average of 8.80 and a strike-rate of 133.33.
Recently, the duo featured in the 2024 T20 World Cup, with Ayub scoring 23 runs in two matches at an average of 11.50 and a strike-rate of 79.31.
Azam, meanwhile, only featured in Pakistan’s opening game against the United States of America and was dismissed for a golden duck.
“Our bench strength isn’t improving, you know why? We’ve never experimented in life, never lifted people from below and played them from the bench when we were winning, so that is the best time to bring your young people, just like Saim; Saim has shown talent, hasn’t he, Azam came in the middle overs and hit sixes in the PSL, now how to get performance from Azam or how to get performance from Saim, sometimes it’s also the role of coaches, also the role of management, I think they should back them, their answer should be the most important thing on this matter,” Mushtaq told Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India in the T20 World Cup before rebounding to beat Canada and Ireland.
However, those two victories went in vain as the men in green were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.
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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