Saim Ayub continues to earn the respect of his teammates after playing another crucial knock to help Pakistan beat New Zealand in the first T20 international at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore.
This time it was Fakhar Zaman who praised the youngster for his mature performance.
After losing the experienced pair of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan for just 30 runs, Fakhar and Saim rebuilt Pakistan’s innings with a 79-run third-wicket stand.
The 20-year-old did not let the run rate drop either, hitting six 4’s and two 6’s for a 28-ball 47 before being run out short of another well-deserved fifty.
But his innings helped Pakistan post a formidable 182 runs on the board before the bowlers completed the job.
Saim is a wonderful addition in the batting line-up. His range of shots is really good. After Babar, Pakistan have got such a player. You can’t judge a player so early, but I feel that if he continues to work hard and take care of himself, then he would serve Pakistan for a long time and will win a lot of matches for Pakistan, Fakhar was quoted as saying.
PCB has already indicated that Saim Ayub is firmly in their plans for an extended stay with the international squad and if he keeps delivering, he may soon become part of the ODI and Test setup as well.
