Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub - (Source: AFP)
In a significant development, Pakistan have revised their squad for the ongoing tri-series involving England and Sri Lanka. The Men in Green have released Saim Ayub from the squad, replacing him with Sahibzada Farhan.
The PCB took the decision to release Saim after Pakistan’s outstanding win over England on Sunday, October 25. Notably, Saim Ayub has been struggling for runs, which is why the move is purely tactical and not injury related.
Saim Ayub requested to return to domestic cricket
Talking about Saim Ayub, the southpaw amassed just 21 runs in 3 innings and failed to cross a single-digit score even once in the entire series. Prior to the ODI tri-series was the Sri Lanka T20I series, where he played a solitary game and scored 8 runs.
Ayub was also roped in for the 3rd Test against England in England, where he scored a pair of ducks. Meanwhile, a report from Abdul Majid Bhatti stated that Saim Ayub was honest in his assessment and held a talk with head coach Mike Hesson.
Saim Ayub expressed his desire to return to domestic cricket to regain his lost mojo. The head coach and Pakistan opener were on the same page, following which the PCB roped in Sabhibzada Farhan to the squad.
Sahibzada Farhan in great form
Sahibzada Farhan is enjoying the best phase of his career. The right-handed batter recently replaced Salman Ali Agha as Pakistan’s T20I captain. There were concerns about whether leadership pressure would affect his batting.
On the contrary, Farhan broke the world record for most runs in a three-match bilateral series against Sri Lanka, where he scored 238 runs in 3 innings. However, he is yet to cement himself in ODIs.
The 30-year-old has just 101 runs in 6 innings, averaging 16.83. Nonetheless, the remaining two games in the tri-series are a great opportunity for Farhan to get into the scheme of things in ODIs, given the ODI World Cup 2027 is less than a year away.
Talking about the Tri-series, Pakistan have already qualified for the final, and the upcoming fixture against Sri Lanka will be a dead-rubber game for them.
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