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‘Saim is the issue, not Babar and Rizwan’: Shahid Afridi on Pakistan’s opening pair

Pakistan are gearing up for the T20I series against Ireland and England

By Web Desk

May 03, 2024

Shahid Afridi is a former Pakistan captain. - PCB

Former captain Shahid Afridi has shared his opinion on the Pakistan team’s opening pair with the T20 World Cup 2024 just around the corner.

Afridi believes that Saim Ayub needs to be more consistent with the bat if he wants to open the innings for Pakistan.

“Saim is the issue, not Babar and Rizwan. Saim has been given many opportunities but he has failed to deliver. A lot of people are a fan of his talent but we need runs from Saim since the opening stand is a crucial part of the game. I think he has played 15 T20I innings but is yet to score a fifty,” Afridi said while speaking on a local news channel.

“Saim needs to show more responsibility during matches and score game-changing runs in at least two out of every five innings. We have not seen this from Saim so far but he might get more chances. If this doesn’t work out, Pakistan could give chance to Fakhar Zaman as an opener during the World Cup.”

Ayub has scored 219 runs in 15 innings for Pakistan in T20I cricket at a strike-rate of 125.86. His highest score is 49 with an average of 14.60.

It must be noted that Pakistan team is currently gearing up for the T20I series against Ireland and England. The Men in Green will play three matches against Ireland and four against England this month before leaving for the United States for the T20 World Cup.