Salman Butt: “You picked a youngster, I think probably a result of liking. He has also got a lot of chances but he hasn’t scored many runs”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt remains unconvinced about opening batsman Saim Ayub as he “hasn’t scored many runs” despite being given “a lot of chances”.
Salman’s comments come ahead of Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, where Ayub is expected to open the batting.
However, the 39-year-old questioned whether it was right for the selectors to drop Imam-ul-Haq solely to allow Ayub to take his spot.
“I believe that either you should have some very strong options before dropping someone or some outstanding performances were going on. But you picked a youngster, I think probably a result of liking. He has also got a lot of chances but he hasn’t scored many runs. But maybe now he does because, in Pakistan, Bangladesh can be a relatively easier opposition. It can prove to be,” Salman said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Ayub was recently in action in the 2024 T20 World Cup, where he mustered 23 runs in two games at an average of 11.50 and a strike-rate of 79.31.
As for his Test career, the 22-year-old from Karachi made his Test debut against Australia in January 2024 and made scores of 0 and 33.
The two-Test series between Pakistan and Bangladesh will be held in Rawalpindi and Karachi from August 21 to September 3.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi
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