Saim Ayub’s batting position should be changed: Ramiz Raja
Opener failed to impress during T20I series between Pakistan and Ireland
Former captain Ramiz Raja suggested on Wednesday that opener Saim Ayub’s batting position should be changed after the left-hander failed to impress at the top of the order.
Saim also struggled during the three-match T20I series against Ireland, which concluded yesterday.
Saim made 45 in the first T20I but only managed 6 and 14 in the other two T20Is. The left-hander has failed to score a half-century in his T20I career and fans are now questioning his spot in the playing XI. With an average of 15.77, he has amassed 284 runs in 18 innings.
Speaking after third T20I between Pakistan and Ireland on Tuesday, Ramiz said that Saim should be tested in the middle-order.
“We are hell-bent on opening with Saim Ayub and for that we broke the opening pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. There is a for and against case for Saim Ayub. He has the talent and potential but isn’t scoring runs,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel.
“We struggle for sixes and acceleration in the middle overs which is why we should try Saim Ayub in the middle order. He doesn’t need the circle to hit maximums because he plays proper cricketing shots for fours and sixes.
“This pre-determined mindset that an individual will only open the innings or not and the rest will adjust around him is wrong.”
Earlier, while speaking to Geo News, Saim said that he focuses on winning the match for Pakistan rather than thinking about personal milestones.
“My target is Man of the Match, not fifty or a hundred. I don’t think about numbers as I aim to win the match for my team. It can be any figure, 50, 70 or 100, but I don’t think about that since I’m focused on winning the match,” Saim said.
Saim also opened up his famous ‘no-look’ shot.
“I think it was the National T20 in 2022 where I played the no-look shot for the first time but it was not something that I had pre-planned. I was not able to find scoring options so, when I saw that the fine-leg was up in the circle, I played that shot. It was not my intention to not look at the shot, it just happened automatically,” he said.
“However, I don’t prioritise this since it is a high-risk shot. I try to play the other shots more often and only play the no-look shot when it is absolutely necessary,” he added.
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