Like any young cricketer, Saim Ayub has faced criticism from former Pakistan players on TV shows. The youngster, who gained fame for his “no-look shots” in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Caribbean Premier League (CPL), was harshly criticized by Pakistan’s former cricketers for getting out playing the same shot again and again.
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal even called for his exclusion after Saim got out playing a reckless shot in a Test match against Bangladesh earlier this year. “Honestly, if I were in charge, I swear I wouldn’t let Saim near the team for the next two years after the way he got out in the first innings of the second Test, especially after scoring 50 runs,” Akmal had said on a TV show.
Troubled by the harsh criticism, Saim turned to his childhood coach Mohammad Masroor, who is now Pakistan’s fielding coach. Masroor encouraged him by pointing to the example of Rishabh Pant, a fellow left-hander from across the border who had also faced intense criticism from cricket experts after getting out during the 2019 World Cup semi-final.
“The example of Rishabh Pant was there for him to see. He kept getting out playing those shots, and the pundits in India wrote him off, calling him reckless and questioning his temperament. But they forgot that aggressive cricket is Rishabh’s strength,” Masroor told The Indian Express before the series began.
Saim, who had played 23 T20Is and six Tests, had yet to make a significant impact. However, he was fortunate to have the support of the Pakistan team management, and on Friday, he showed his potential. Playing in only his second ODI, against the World Champions and perhaps the best bowling attack in the world, the left-hander scored 82 off 71 balls, which included five boundaries and six sixes. His sixes—whether the pull shot against Cummins, the pick-up shot against Mitchell Starc, or his powerful shot against leg-spinner Adam Zampa—showed that the 22-year-old has what it takes to thrive on the international stage and could become a formidable player across all formats.
“Michael Vaughan and Adam Gilchrist want him to succeed. The boy is special. We just need to have faith and give him time to mature,” Masroor said.
This is Saim’s third trip to Australia. He made his Test debut earlier this year in Sydney. But his first visit to these shores was in 2018 as the captain of Pakistan U-16. “In Melbourne, we were chasing 260-odd runs, and I remember Saim scored 150. That was some knock,” Masroor recalled.
Masroor spotted Saim in a school tournament in Karachi, where he was invited as a chief guest. He got him enrolled in the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, despite opposition from Saim’s father, who worked for a multinational company in Karachi. “He comes from a family of professionals, where the focus was more on studies and his father wanted him to succeed academically. I had to put in some effort to convince his father to let him play,” he said.
What fascinated Masroor about Saim from an early age was his ability to handle pace and bounce.
“He cuts and pulls really well. He has all those modern strokes in his repertoire. Once he settles, he always scores big. Under his captaincy, Karachi won the U-16 title twice in a row, with him scoring four centuries in both seasons,” Masroor remembered.
Like many young Pakistani cricketers, Saim initially wanted to be a pacer. In fact, until his U-19 days, he used to open the innings with both bat and ball for his teams.
“He was a swing bowler, and I must say, a decent one,” Masroor reminisced. “He used to bowl five overs of medium pace with the new ball and then off-spin.”
On Friday, when Saim was introduced into the attack, he immediately troubled Aaron Hardie with his carrom ball. Adam Gilchrist, on commentary, compared him to the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.
“He’s someone who can bowl leg-spin to right-handers and off-spin to left-handers. The last time I saw someone do that was Sachin Tendulkar,” Gilchrist said.
Saim recently added the carrom ball to his skills while playing in franchise leagues worldwide.
“Now you need to add more skills. He has worked on his carrom ball and developed other variations. He’s effective with the ball but still has room for improvement,” Masroor said.
With the three-match series tied 1-1, the decider will be played in Perth on Sunday.