Former captain Shahid Afridi has advised young opening batter Saim Ayub to shoulder more responsibility and fulfil the trust placed in him.
The left-handed batter has scored a meagre 219 runs in 15 innings at a strike-rate of 125.86 since making his T20I debut against Afghanistan last year.
Afridi criticized Ayub and stated that the youngster has failed to deliver despite getting consistent chances.
“Saim [Ayub] is the issue, not Babar [Azam] and [Mohammad] Rizwan. Saim has been given many opportunities but he has failed to deliver,” said Afridi while speaking to a local news channel.
“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,” he added.
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The former captain also advocated for Fakhar Zaman to open the innings in the upcoming T20 World Cup, if Ayub could not perform in the Ireland and England tours.
“Saim needs to show more responsibility during matches and score game-changing runs in at least two out of every five innings,” stated the former all-rounder.
“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.”
The national team is set to play a three-match T20I series against Ireland from 10 May, followed by a four-match series against England.
Pakistan will announce the squad for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 after the first T20I against England, scheduled on 22 May.