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"This guy needs to be benched": Waqar Younis on Saim Ayub amid batting struggles
Pakistan's opening batter Saim Ayub has found himself under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the ongoing Asia Cup. He has managed to score only 21 runs across six innings, failing to give the side cracking starts. His lack of runs has become a mounting concern for the Pakistan side, especially as they enter the final against India, scheduled to be held on Sunday in Dubai. With four golden ducks in the tournament, Ayub has struggled to find rhythm. Commenting on Ayub's form, former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis feels that the young batter needs to be dropped from the playing XI so that he can regain his form.
“Look, I said it after the second duck, I said this guy needs to be benched. It’s not that he is not talented; he is very talented. I think he is the future of Pakistan cricket. But sometimes when things are not going right for you, you just keep going in the shell, keep going down and down, and that’s what is happening here with him. His body language was poor this afternoon when he walked onto the field,” said Younis, as quoted by the Indian Express.
“You know, he [Ayub] is a youngster, you really need to look after them sometimes, by just not playing them sometimes. Pakistan kept on playing him, just purely because he can bowl. You don’t need to worry about his bowling; Pakistan needs to worry about his batting. If he is going to give us runs or not. At the moment, it’s not happening. He needs to dig deeper in his game to score a few runs.”
While his contributions with the bat have been underwhelming, he has been highly effective with the ball, chipping in with crucial breakthroughs. He has claimed eight wickets at an average of 14 and an economy rate of 6.58.
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