Alzarri Joseph on Saim Ayub: “I haven’t bowled much to him yet, but whenever I do in the future, I believe I can pose a good challenge for him”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
West Indies pace bowler Alzarri Joseph has warned Pakistan opener Saim Ayub that he “can pose a good challenge for him”.
Joseph knows how good of a player Ayub is, but thinks he has the skills needed to get the better of the 23-year-old.
It should be noted that Ayub is one of the brightest prospects in Pakistan cricket as he has shown his power-hitting capabilities on a few occasions.
This was extremely prevalent during Pakistan’s tours of Zimbabwe and South Africa in 2024, where the Karachi native smashed three ODI centuries and a career-best 98 not out in T20Is.
“I haven’t bowled much to him yet, but whenever I do in the future, I believe I can pose a good challenge for him,” Joseph was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ayub was recently in action in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and struck 174 runs in 10 matches for the Peshawar Zalmi, which included a top score of 50, at an average of 17.40 and a strike-rate of 125.17.
He then went on to feature in the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, but wasn’t at his best as he was restricted to 49 runs at an average of 16.33 and a strike-rate of 144.11.
Ayub then toured Bangladesh with the Pakistan team and scored 28 runs at an average of 9.33 and a strike-rate of 121.73.
The men in green lost the series 2-1.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem