Younis Khan: “It’s unfortunate that Saim Ayub, a young and talented player, won’t be part of the team due to injury. Pakistan won’t be able to benefit from his skills in this mega event”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan batsman Younis Khan admitted it was disappointing that the national team weren’t able to benefit from opener Saim Ayub’s skills during the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Ayub was ruled out of the tournament after fracturing his ankle during the two-Test series against South Africa.
The injury came at an inopportune time for the 22-year-old as he had been in phenomenal form over the past few months.
Ayub had scored three ODI centuries and a career-best 98 not out in T20Is, all of which occurred during Pakistan’s tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa.
Given how well the Karachi native had been batting, Younis conceded that Pakistan would have been much stronger with Ayub in the squad for the Champions Trophy.
“It’s unfortunate that Saim Ayub, a young and talented player, won’t be part of the team due to injury. Pakistan won’t be able to benefit from his skills in this mega event,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan were knocked out in the group stage of the Champions Trophy after losing to New Zealand and India, while their final game against Bangladesh was washed out.
The men in green will now embark on a tour of New Zealand, where they will play five T20Is and three ODIs from March 16 to April 5.
Since Ayub is still recovering from his injury, he was not considered for selection.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
[TS_Poll id=”85″]