Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has thrown his weight behind Pakistan’s young opener Saim Ayub, naming him as a potential game-changer in the Super Eights stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
Pakistan begin their Super Eights campaign against the New Zealand national cricket team at the R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, with Ayub expected to play a crucial role at the top of the order.
Compare Saim with emerging talent Brevis
Speaking during a recent interaction, Ponting compared the 23-year-old to South Africa’s emerging talent Dewald Brevis and praised his fearless approach.
“Saim Ayub is a young talent who reminds me of Dewald Brevis. If he manages to perform well, Pakistan will be difficult to beat,” Ponting remarked.
Ayub has endured a mixed group-stage campaign. He scored 24 runs and produced an impressive bowling spell of 2 for 7 against the Netherlands national cricket team. In the following match against the United States national cricket team, he managed 19 runs but went wicketless.
In the high-pressure clash against the India national cricket team, Ayub scored just six runs but made a notable impact with the ball, claiming 3 wickets for 25 runs. He added 14 runs in Pakistan’s final group-stage encounter against the Namibia national cricket team.
Despite inconsistency with the bat, Ayub has shown glimpses of his all-round capabilities in T20 Internationals this year. Across his last nine matches, he has scored 142 runs and picked up eight wickets, underlining his potential to influence games in multiple ways.
Pakistan secured second place in Group A after winning three of their four matches, with their only defeat coming against India by 61 runs. In the Super Eights, Pakistan are placed in Group 2 alongside the hosts Sri Lanka national cricket team, New Zealand and the England national cricket team.
Pakistan will face England on February 24 and Sri Lanka on February 28 in Colombo, as they aim to book a place in the knockout stages of the tournament.
Read more: Pakistan cricket team’s next plan after ICC T20 World Cup
