Tag: Saim Ayub

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam praised young opener Saim Ayub for his match-winning performance in the three-match ODI series against South Africa.

Saim played a stellar quick 101-run knock from 94 balls, laced with 15 boundaries that included two sixes, in the third ODI and helped Pakistan white-wash South Africa.

This was Saim’s second century in the series, earning him the Player of the Series award with a total of 235 runs and two wickets.

After the match, Babar Azam shared a photo of Saim on his Instagram story, referring to him as “Cheetah” in recognition of his outstanding performance.

During the third ODI, Babar Azam and Saim Ayub built a solid partnership of 114 runs from 133 balls for the second wicket to set-up Pakistan’s total of 308-9.

However, Kwena Maphaka broke the stand as he removed Babar, who scored 52 runs from 71 balls with the help of seven boundaries.

Saim was joined by skipper Mohammad Rizwan (53) and they increased the scoring rate with their 93-run stand that conceded only 75 balls.

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Rizwan and Saim fell in quick succession but Salman Ali Agha played a quick-fire knock of 48 runs from 33 balls and added a crucial partnership of 74 runs with Tayyab Tahir (28) to provide a finishing touch to Pakistan’s innings.

In response, South Africa, despite a spirited performance, were bundled for 271 runs in 42 overs.

It’s worth noting that Pakistan became the first-ever team to clean-sweep the Proteas in an ODI series in South Africa.

READ: Pakistan batter proposes unique solution to host matches against India

DUBAI: Pakistan batters Babar Azam and Saim Ayub made gains, while skipper Mohammad Rizwan experienced a drop in his position in the latest ICC T20I Batting Rankings released on Wednesday.

It’s worth noting Pakistan suffered a 0-2 loss in the three-match T20I series against South Africa after the third match was abandoned due to persistent rain in Johannesburg on 14 December.

This was Mohammad Rizwan’s second consecutive T20I series loss, since becoming Pakistan’s white-ball captain.

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Consequently, Rizwan dropped two places to eighth with 704 rating points after his 13-ball 11 in the second T20I.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam, who bagged a four-ball duck in the first T20I, scored 31 off 20 in the second match and moved one place up to sixth spot in the ICC T20I Batting Rankings.

Other than Babar and Rizwan, there is no batter from Pakistan in the top 50 batters, with Saim Ayub being the third-best-ranked batter from the country.

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Saim is sitting in the 58th spot with 483 rating points after making a massive 45-place jump.

The young batter enjoyed these gains on the back of his unbeaten 98 off 57 balls in the second T20I against South Africa.

In the bowling rankings, pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi fell one place to 21st, while Haris Rauf dropped three places to 26th after their below-par showing against South Africa.

READ: PCB chairman invites Saudi cricket chief to Pakistan for Champions Trophy

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced on Tuesday that Test cricketers Saim Ayub and Hasan Ali are among four local players promoted to the platinum category for the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL) season 10.

The cricket board, through a press release, confirmed the category renewal of 87 local players for the 10th edition.

Hasan Ali (Karachi Kings), Mohammad Amir (Quetta Gladiators), Saim Ayub (Peshawar Zalmi) and Usama Mir (Multan Sultans) have been promoted to the Platinum category from the Diamond category.

Meanwhile, Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan (Islamabad United), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi (Lahore Qalandars), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan (Multan Sultans) and Babar Azam (Peshawar Zalmi) are retained in Platinum category.

A total of 16 players are part of the Diamond category, which includes four players each of Quetta Gladiators and Multan Sultans, three players each from Karachi Kings, and Islamabad United and two players from Peshawar Zalmi, while Lahore Qalandars have one player in this category.

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Furthermore, 30 players are part of the Gold category which includes Peshawar Zalmi’s seven players. Karachi Kings, Lahore Qalandars and Quetta Gladiators have five players each, while Islamabad United and Multan Sultans have four players in the Gold category.

Among the 16 players assigned Silver category, four each are from Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars, while Peshawar Zalmi have three players in this category. Kings and Sultans have two players each in the Silver category, while United have one Silver category player.

In the Emerging category, among the 12 players selected, three players each are part of Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi. Karachi Kings and Multan Sultans have two players each, while Quetta Gladiators and Lahore Qalandars have one player each.

Earlier, on Thursday, 12 December the PCB had opened the registration window for foreign players for the landmark 10th edition of HBL PSL along with the trade window for all six franchises.

The relegation process and retention of players will be announced at the end of December.

The PSL Players’ Draft is scheduled to take place on Saturday, 11 January 2025. The venue and time for the draft will be announced in due course.

Local category player renewals (team-wise):

Islamabad United – Imad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Shadab Khan (all Platinum), Azam Khan, Salman Ali Agha (both Diamond), Faheem Ashraf, Haider Ali, Qasim Akram, Rumman Raees (all Gold), Shahab Khan (Silver), Hunain Shah, Shamyl Hussain, Ubaid Shah (all Emerging)

Karachi Kings – Hasan Ali (Platinum), Mohammad Nawaz, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik (all Diamond), Arafat Minhas, Anwar Ali Khan, Mir Hamza, Zahid Mahmood, Irfan Khan Niazi (all Gold), Mohammad Amir Khan, Muhammad Akhlaq (both Silver), Saad Baig, Sirajuddin (both Emerging)

Lahore Qalandars – Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi (all Platinum), Abdullah Shafique (Diamond), Sahibzada Farhan, Zaman Khan, Mirza Tahir Baig, Kamran Ghulam, Jahandad Khan (all Gold), Ahsan Hafeez Bhatti, Muhammad Imran Jnr, Salman Fayyaz, Syed Faridoun Mahmood (all Silver), Tayyab Abbas (Emerging)

Multan Sultans – Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Rizwan, Usama Mir (all Platinum), Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Usman Khan (all Diamond), Ihsanullah, Tayyab Tahir, Shahnawaz Dahani, Faisal Akram (all Gold), Ali Majid, Yasir Khan (both Silver), Aftab Ibrahim, Muhammad Shahzad (both Emerging)

Peshawar Zalmi – Babar Azam, Saim Ayub (both Platinum), Aamir Jamal, Mohammad Haris (both Diamond), Arshad Iqbal, Asif Ali, Haseebullah, Hussain Talat, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Sufyan Moqim (all Gold), Arif Yaqoob, Mehran Mumtaz, Umair Afridi (all Silver), Aimal Khan, Ali Raza, Mohammad Zeeshan (all Emerging)

Quetta Gladiators – Mohammad Amir (Platinum), Abrar Ahmed, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Hasnain (all Diamond), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Usman Qadir, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sohail Khan, Umar Amin (all Gold), Sajjad Ali Jnr, Usman Tariq, Bismillah Khan, Khawaja Mohammad Nafay (all Silver), Adil Naz (Emerging)

READ: Jason Gillespie opens up on his experience of coaching Babar Azam

CENTURION: Pakistan opening batter Saim Ayub expressed his thoughts after narrowly missing out on a well-deserved maiden T20I century against South Africa at SuperSport Park on Friday.

Saim played a blistering knock of 98* off 57 balls, peppered with five sixes and 11 fours to set up Pakistan’s total of 206-5 in the second T20I of three-match series against South Africa.

He missed out on his century as he did not get to play any ball in the final over. Irfan Khan (30) got out on the second ball while new batter Abbas Afridi played the remaining four balls, hitting 11 runs with one six and one four.

During the post-match press conference, Saim Ayub was asked about missing out on the chance to get his maiden century in the format.

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However, he shared that he prefers team goals over personal milestones and expressed hope that he will get more such opportunities in the future.

“Opportunities will come; this isn’t the last chance or last day for me to score a hundred. What’s most important is contributing to the team,” Saim stated.

“If the team isn’t winning, then a hundred doesn’t matter. But, if the team wins, even a score of 90 or 80 is enough.”

Saim revealed that the plan was to for for boundaries and get as many runs on the board as possible, which resulted in him not getting strike in the final over.

“At that moment, we were thinking of scoring the maximum number of runs for the team. If a hundred is written in my fate, it will happen eventually,” he added.

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It’s pertinent to mention that South Africa have achieved an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, and the dead rubber third T20I will be played in Johannesburg today.

After wrapping up the T20I series, Pakistan and South Africa will play a three-match ODI series.

The opening ODI will take place on December 17 in Paarl, while the second and third ODIs will be played in Cape Town and Johannesburg on December 19 and 22 respectively.

Pakistan and South Africa will then engage in a two-match Test series, which will kick off in Centurion on December 26, meanwhile, the second Test will start from January 3 in Cape Town.

READ: Babar Azam breaks Chris Gayle’s all-time T20 record

Former Pakistan cricketer Sikandar Bakht did not mince his words while criticising opening batters Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub after they failed in the first ODI against Australia.

Abdullah (12) and Saim (1) returned to the pavilion inside seven overs with a meagre 24 runs on the board during Pakistan’s two-wicket loss against Australia in the series opener.

Sikandar Bakht, during an interview at a local news channel, labelled them as burdens on the team after repeated failures.

“Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub have become burdens on the squad,” Bakht said.

The former pacer also slammed Pakistan’s white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan and star batter Babar Azam for their lack of responsibility and inconsistency with the bat.

“Babar and Rizwan are currently the most senior players in the team, yet they never stand as a pillar for the team during tough times,” he added.

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Sikandar Bakht stressed that the only impact player in the team is explosive opening batter Fakhar Zaman, who was dropped from the squad for the tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

“I’ve been saying it for a while—Pakistan had only one true match-winner in ODIs… Fakhar Zaman and he’s been dropped from the team,” Bakht said.

Notably, the second match of the series will be played on 8 November (tomorrow) in Adelaide, while Perth will host the third ODI on 10 November.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series between Pakistan and Australia, scheduled to commence on November 14.

Brisbane will host the first T20I, with the next matches scheduled for November 16 and 18 in Sydney and Hobart, respectively.

READ: Legendary Australian captain urges Babar Azam to follow Virat Kohli’s footsteps

Pakistan’s batting prodigy Saim Ayub has been roped in by Dhaka Capitals for the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2025 during the player draft on Monday.

The BPL 2025 Draft was held at a luxurious five-star hotel in Dhaka, where the teams finalised their squads for the upcoming edition. Bangladesh pace bowler Taskin Ahmed was the first pick, made by Durbar Rajshahi.

Other than Saim, a total of 14 players from Pakistan were picked during the BPL Draft, including Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Khan and Faheem Ashraf.

It’s worth noting that the 11th season of the BPL will be played from December 27 2024 across multiple venues in the country.

BPL 2025 Squads After Draft

Fortune Barishal

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), Kyle Mayers (West Indies), David Malan (England), Faheem Ashraf (Pakistan), Mohammad Ali (Pakistan), Jahandad Khan (Pakistan)
Draft Selections: Mahmudullah Riyad, Tanvir Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Ripon Mondol, Ebadot Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taijul Islam, Shahidul Islam, Ariful Islam, James Fuller (England), Pathum Nissanka (Sri Lanka), Nadre Burger (South Africa)

Sylhet Strikers

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Zakir Hasan, Jaker Ali Anik, Paul Stirling (Ireland), George Munsey (Scotland)
Draft Selections: Rony Talukdar, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Al-Amin Hossain, Arafat Sunny, Ruel Mia, Ariful Haque, Nihaduzzaman, Nahidul Islam, Rahkeem Cornwall (West Indies), Samiullah Shenwari (Afghanistan), Reece Topley (England)

Khulna Tigers

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Nasum Ahmed, Afif Hossain, Mehedi Hasan Miraz
Draft Selections: Hasan Mahmud, Naim Sheikh, Imrul Kayes, Mahidul Ankon, Abu Hider Rony, Ziaur Rahman, Mahfuzur Rahman Rabbi, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mohammad Hasnain (Pakistan), Oshane Thomas (West Indies), Lewis Gregory (England), Mohammad Nawaz (Pakistan)

Rangpur Riders

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Sheikh Mehedi Hasan, Mohammad Saifuddin, Khushdil Shah (Pakistan), Alex Hales (England), Iftikhar Ahmed (Pakistan), Allah Ghazanfar (Afghanistan), Saurabh Netravalkar (USA), Steven Ryan Taylor (USA)
Draft Selections: Nahid Rana, Saif Hassan, Soumya Sarkar, Rakibul Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Irfan Sukkur, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Taufiq Khan Tushar, Akif Javed (Pakistan), Curtis Campher (Ireland)

Dhaka Capitals

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Johnson Charles (West Indies), Stephen Eskinazi (England), Shahnawaz Dahani (Pakistan), Thisara Perera (Sri Lanka), Amir Hamza (Afghanistan)
Draft Selections: Litton Das, Habibur Rahman Sohan, Abu Jayed Rahi, Mukidul Islam Mugdha, Mushfik Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Munim Shahriar, Asif Hasan Mitul, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Saim Ayub (Pakistan), Mir Hamza (Afghanistan)

Chittagong Kings

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Shakib Al Hasan, Shariful Islam (Direct signing), Moeen Ali (England), Usman Khan (Pakistan), Haider Ali (Pakistan), Angelo Mathews (Sri Lanka), Mohammad Wasim Jr. (Pakistan), Binura Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Draft Selections: Shamim Hossain, Parvez Hossain Emon, Khaled Ahmed, Alis Al Islam, Mohammad Mithun, Naim Islam, Maruf Mridha, Rahatul Ferdous Javed, Sheikh Parvez Jibon, Marshall Ayub, Graham Clark (England), Thomas O’Connell (Australia)

Durbar Rajshahi

Direct Signings and Retained Players: Anamul Haque Bijoy, Zishan Alam
Draft Selections: Taskin Ahmed, Jisan Alam, Yasir Ali Rabbi, Sabbir Hossain, Sanjamul Islam, M Meherob Hossain, Akbar Ali, Hasan Murad, Shafiul Islam, Mohr Sheikh Antor, Saad Nasim (Pakistan), Lahiru Samarakkon (Sri Lanka)

READ: Saim Ayub, Kamran Ghulam lead Pakistan’s fightback after Leach’s early strikes

MULTAN: Debutant Kamran Ghulam fell in the dying minutes of the opening day after his maiden century kept Pakistan in command during the second Test against England here on Tuesday.

Mohammad Rizwan (37*) and Salman Ali Agha (5*) will resume the second day for Pakistan with the scoreboard reading 259-5.

The hosts lost Saud Shakeel (4) early in the final session with Jamie Smith taking a sharp catch behind the stumps.

Mohammad Rizwan joined Kamran Ghulam and took his time to settle in. Meanwhile, Kamran continued his strokeplay and scored his maiden Test century during the 65-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Kamran Ghulam scored 118 runs from 224 runs with the help of eleven boundaries before getting cleaned up by Shoaib Bashir.

Mohammad Rizwan was joined by Salman Ali Agha and they took the team to 259/5 at Stumps.

Pakistan had scored 173-3 with Kamran Ghulam playing at 75 and Saud Shakeel at 4 after the second session on Day 1.

The hosts enjoyed a fruitful session as Kamran and Saim frustrated England bowlers with their brilliant strokeplay.

Both batters completed their individual half-centuries during the 149-run partnership before Potts provided the breakthrough for the visitors at the stroke of Tea.

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Saim Ayub was caught by England captain Ben Stokes at short mid-off after scoring 77 runs from 160 balls, which featured seven boundaries.

The hosts scored 79-2 at Lunch on the first day with Saim Ayub and Kamran Ghulam on the crease at 40 and 29 respectively.

Pakistan captain Shan Masood opted to bat first after winning the toss, however, the decision seemed to backfire as the hosts slipped to 19-2.

On a spin-friendly Multan pitch, Jack Leach bowled Abdullah Shafique (7) and enticed Shan Masood (3) to flick in the air in the next over only to be caught by Zak Crawley.

Debutant Kamran Ghulam, who replaced Babar Azam in Pakistan’s Playing XI, joined Saim Ayub and together they launched the comeback for the home team.

Together they added an unbeaten 60 runs for the third wicket against England’s spin attack to push Pakistan’s total to 79-2 until Lunch was called.

It’s worth noting that England are leading the three-match series 1-0 after thumping Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first match at the same venue.

Pakistan’s Playing XI: Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (c), Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel (vc), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Salman Ali Agha, Aamir Jamal, Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Zahid Mahmood.

England’s Playing XI: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Brydon Carse, Matt Potts, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

READ: PCB issues show-cause notice to Fakhar Zaman over Babar Azam post

FAISALABAD: Saim Ayub backed his five-wicket haul with a brisk knock up the order and propelled Panthers to a crushing seven-wicket victory over Markhors in the Qualifier 1 of the Champions One-Day Cup here at Iqbal Stadium on Tuesday.

The crushing victory powered Shadab Khan-led Panthers into the Champions One-Day Cup final while Mohammad Rizwan’s Markhors will face the winning team of the Eliminator between Stallions and Lions, scheduled on Wednesday.

Chasing a modest total, the Panthers knocked the winning runs in style when Usman Khan smashed Kamran Ghulam for a six on the fourth delivery of the 24th over and also brought up his half-century in just 26 balls.

The Panthers got off to an unwanted start to the pursuit as they lost young opener Azan Awais (13) in the sixth over with just 21 runs on the board.

Following the early hiccup, Saim Ayub forged an anchoring 50-run partnership with Umar Siddiq and put the Panthers halfway through.

The in-form opener finally perished in the 16th over, falling victim to Zahid Mahmood after scoring a 36-ball 33 with the help of six boundaries.

Siddiq followed suit just three overs later as he fell victim to Salman Ali Agha in the 19th over after scoring 35 off 52 deliveries.

Wicketkeeper batter Usman Khan then forged a one-sided partnership with Rizwan Mehmood and steered Panthers to a crushing victory.

Usman smashed five fours and four sixes on his way to top score for Panthers with a 26-ball 54 while Rizwan made five not out.

For Markhors, Akif Javed, Agha and Zahid could pick one wicket apiece.

Markhors’ captain Mohammad Rizwan’s decision to bat first backfired as their batters skittled against a disciplined Panthers’ bowling attack and could accumulate 137 runs before being bundled out in 37 overs.

Young pacer Ali Raza gave Panthers a head start with the ball as he got Haseebullah (3) caught behind on the second delivery of the second over.

In-form Mohammad Hasnain then capitalized on the start provided by Raza and struck thrice in quick succession to leave Markhors reeling at 25/4 in 6.5 overs.

Following the early debacle, Iftikhar Ahmed and Salman Ali Agha launched a recovery with a cautious fifth-wicket partnership.

The duo had settled down, having scored 67 runs for the fifth wicket but had a disappointing end to their stand as Iftikhar was run out.

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Iftikhar scored 39 off 61 balls, hitting three fours and a six.

Saim Ayub then ran through Markhors’ lower middle order with a five-wicket haul. The table-toppers lost their remaining five wickets for just 35 runs and were eventually bundled out in 37 overs.

Salman Ali Agha remained the top-scorer for Markhors with a gutsy half-century, scoring 52 off 81 deliveries, laced up with four fours and a six.

Saim Ayub was the standout bowler for the Panthers, returning brilliant figures of 5/24, followed by Hasnain’s 3/25 while Raza made one scalp.

It is worth mentioning that Mohammad Haris’ Stallions will lock horns with Shaheen Afridi’s Lions in the Eliminator of the Champions One-Day Cup on Wednesday at the same venue.

READ: ICC reveals all-female panel of match officials for Women’s T20 World Cup

FAISALABAD: Pakistan’s batting prodigy Saim Ayub, coped with a disappointing dismissal while playing a no-look shot in the Champions One-Day Cup, underway here at Iqbal Stadium.

Saim, representing the Panthers in the Champions Cup, is yet to make a mark in the ongoing five-team tournament.

The incident occurred in the third over of the Panthers’ innings against the Dolphins when Saim Ayub attempted to punch his trademark no-look shot against left-arm pacer Mir Hamza.

Hamza bowled a length delivery, angling towards the leg stump but moved away after pitching. Ayub went early into the no-look shot and ended up launching the ball in the air.

The ball after taking the leading edge, went straight to Mohammad Huraira at mid-off, who made no mistake in gulping it safely.

The left-handed could score a mere six off 12 deliveries, hitting only one boundary in his scratchy knock.

Remember, it was the second failure for Ayub in as many matches of the ongoing Champions One-Day Cup. In the tournament opener against Markhors, he scored a 15-ball 20.

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Saim Ayub is often criticised for his inability to convert a good start into a big knock. The most recent example was when he threw his wicket in the first innings of the second Test against Bangladesh after scoring a gutsy half-century.

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper batter Kamran Akmal lambasted Ayub over the casual dismissal, stating he would not have let the latter come near the team.

“Honestly, if I were in charge, I swear I wouldn’t let Saim come near the team for the next two years after getting out like he did in the first innings of the second Test,” Akmal said during an interview with local sports website.

READ: Mohammad Amir breaks Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s all-time T20 record

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal lashed out at batting prodigy Saim Ayub after the national Test team’s humiliating loss against Bangladesh.

The Green Shirts succumbed to a 2-0 loss in the two-match series against Bangladesh, which culminated at the Pindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

Bangladesh outclassed Pakistan by six wickets in the second Test to complete the clean sweep. The touring side had won the first Test thumpingly by 10 wickets.

Saim Ayub scored 135 runs in the series, including two half-centuries, however, Kamran Akmal expressed his disappointment over Saim’s casual dismissal in the first innings of the second Test. The left-handed batter was stumped out after scoring a gutsy 58.

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“Honestly, if I were in charge, I swear I wouldn’t let Saim come near the team for the next two years after getting out like he did in the first innings of the second Test,” Akmal said during an interview with local sports website.

The former batter also raised questions over opening batter Abdullah Shafique’s performance throughout the series.

“Abdullah Shafique, as you can see, is a specialist opener. Whether it’s the first ball or not, cricket has become so fast-paced that runs are expected right from the start,” he added.

“You can see that our approach is totally different; we’re not playing the cricket of the ’90s or ’80s. If a player like Abdullah Shafique isn’t scoring runs against such teams, then I think it’s a worrying sign, both for Abdullah and for Pakistan.”

READ: Nida Dar congratulates India two months after T20 World Cup triumph