Shoaib Akhtar: “Saim (Ayub), son, go play. Abhishek (Sharma) has a license, you also play. No problem, you won’t get dropped if you get out”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Masterful Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar would give opening batsman Saim Ayub the license to hit big just like his India counterpart Abhishek Sharma.
Akhtar noted that if he were given the opportunity to fix Pakistan cricket over three years, he would fully back Ayub for a year, even if he fails to perform consistently.
The Rawalpindi Express knows how good the 23-year-old can be and wants him to stop being a “scared, poor boy.”
“To fix Pakistan cricket, if I am given three years and handed the command, the children (players) must be given confidence. ‘Saim (Ayub), son, go play. Abhishek (Sharma) has a license, you also play. No problem, you won’t get dropped if you get out. Saim beta, the whole year is for you.’ I’ll see how performance doesn’t come. He (Saim Ayub) is scared, poor boy,” Akhtar said in a YouTube video posted by TapMad as quoted by NDTV.
Ayub endured a disastrous campaign with the bat during the 2025 Asia Cup as he mustered 37 runs in seven games at an average of 5.28 and a strike-rate of 97.36.
He didn’t feature in the recently-concluded two-Test series against South Africa, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
However, he is playing in the ongoing three-match T20I series and made 37 runs in the first match, which the men in green lost by 55 runs.
Following the T20Is, Pakistan and South Africa will battle it out in a three-match ODI series scheduled between November 4 and 8.
Afterwards, Pakistan will take on Sri Lanka in a three-match ODI series from November 11 to 15, before joining a T20I tri-series with Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe from November 17 to 29.
Pakistan squad for South Africa T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan squad for South Africa ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka ODI Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Faisal Akram, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Nawaz, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
Reserves: Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem