Pakistan opening batsman Saim Ayub: “I don’t believe in the word ‘form.’ I’ve removed it from my mind”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan opening batsman Saim Ayub has announced that he doesn’t “believe in the word form” and has “removed it from my mind”.
Explaining why, he believes it is used as an excuse when things aren’t going right for players.
Instead, the 23-year-old attributed poor performance to a few key reasons – “lack of practice” and “poor thought process, routine, or fitness”.
“I don’t believe in the word ‘form.’ I’ve removed it from my mind. What even is form? We use it too easily as an excuse – ‘I
didn’t perform because I’m not in form.’ That’s not it. It’s our lack of practice, our poor thought process, routine, or fitness. Why don’t the world’s great players go out of form? They’re human too,” the Karachi native was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), Ayub scored 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 featured in Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh and mustered 49 runs at an average of 16.33 and a strike-rate of 144.11.
He wasn’t able to have an impact during the tour of Bangladesh as well as he was limited to 28 runs in three T20Is at an average of 9.33 and a strike-rate of 121.73.
Pakistan are now touring West Indies for three T20Is and three ODIs.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan Squad for West Indies ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
[TS_Poll id=”85″]