Jason Gillespie: “Saim Ayub will be an all-time great of Pakistan cricket in all formats”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie has predicted that batting all-rounder Saim Ayub will become “an all-time great of Pakistan cricket in all formats”.
Having started his career as an aggressive opening batsman, Saim has evolved his game, adding new depth by taking regular wickets with his improving spin bowling.
The 23-year-old from Karachi has already cemented his place in Pakistan’s ODI and T20I squads, but Gillespie believes it won’t be long before he earns a comeback to the Test side and makes a significant impact in the red-ball format as well.
“Saim Ayub will be an all-time great of Pakistan cricket in all formats,” the former Australia fast bowler was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Ayub is currently representing Pakistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup, where he has scored 63 runs in four matches at an average of 15.75 and a strike-rate of 143.18.
Bowling-wise, he has claimed five wickets at an average of 10.60 and an economy rate of 6.62.
Pakistan have booked their spot in the Super Eights after defeating the Netherlands, United States of America and Namibia in the group stage. Their only loss came against India.
The men in green will be back in action on February 21 when they face New Zealand in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq