Pakistan’s top-order batter Saim Ayub said he is bowling and scoring better than before in Pakistan cricket under coach Mike Hesson. His comments triggered an indirect attack on the intentions of cricketers like Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Pakistan lost the first T20I against South Africa as the Salman Agha-led side faltered despite Babar Azam’s return to the shortest format of the game. Fakhar Zaman was no longer part of the team after the Asian Cup. This was their second consecutive T20I defeat and their fourth defeat in 8 matches.
The Mike Hesson era marked many changes in the Pakistan set-up; however, these changes had no significant impact. They reached the Asian Cup final; however, they failed to win it.
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If you look, we scored above average in many matches – Saim Ayub
After the defeat against South Africa in the first T20I, where Pakistan were once again dismissed within the 140-run limit, journalists asked Saim Ayub about Pakistan’s consistency in getting knocked out under the captaincy of Mike Hesson.
Saim Ayub did not take this as a sporting remark and then projected Pakistan’s previous outings, where they had performed even worse, to justify Hesson’s strategies and their form in recent times.
“If you look, we scored above average in many matches. We played the Asia Cup final and we tried to score above average, which usually didn’t happen in our cricket earlier,” said Saim Ayub, who appeared to be an indirect attack on Pakistan greats Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Babar Azam falls in love with a duck during his T20I comeback
Returning to Pakistan’s T20I squad after a humiliating snub during the Asia Cup campaign, nothing seemed to have gone Babar Azam’s way. Criticized and left out for his lack of intent and low strike rate, Azam was snubbed from the Pakistan team.
In his return match, he was once again sent off without scoring. Corbin Bosch, the most successful South African bowler in the game, struck first with the veteran Pakistani wicket.
George Linde’s all-round show leads Proteas to dominant win in Rawalpindi
George Linde, the South African all-rounder, led the Proteas to a first-place finish in the series with his all-round show. However, Corbin Bosch also remains another dominant player with the ball, while Reeza Hendricks was also promising with the bat.
After Hendricks’ 60, Linde’s death topped an appearance and helped South Africa set a target of 195 ahead of the home side, who never looked good enough to chase it down. Linde picked 3 wickets and Bosch 4 wickets, giving away only 31 and 14 runs respectively.
Saim Ayub top-scored for Pakistan with 37 runs, and Mohammad Nawaz was their top hitter, having scored 36 runs at a strike rate of 180. Linde was named player of the match.
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