Pakistan’s top-order batsman Sam Ayub has said that he is playing and scoring better than ever in Pakistan cricket under the leadership of coach Mike Hesson. His comments made 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 Aga-led side failed to make the cut despite the return of Babar Azam in the shortest format of the game. Fakhar Zaman was not a part of the team after the Asia Cup. This is their second consecutive defeat in T20Is and fourth in 8 matches.
The Mike Hesson era marked several changes in the Pakistan setup; However, those changes have not had any significant impact. They have reached the final of the Asia Cup; However, they failed to win it.
If you look, we have scored above par in many games – Sam Ayub
After the defeat against South Africa in the first T20I, where Pakistan were once again bowled out within the 140-run limit, journalists questioned Sam Ayub on the consistency of Pakistan’s dismissals under the coaching of Mike Hesson.
Sam Ayub did not take this as a sporting commentary and brought up Pakistan’s previous matches, where they had performed even worse, to justify Hesson’s strategies and his form in recent times.
“If you see, we have scored above par in many games. We have played the Asia Cup final and we are trying to score above par, which has not usually happened in our cricket before,” said Sam Ayub, in what seemed like an indirect attack on Pakistan greats Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan.
Babar Azam was out for zero while returning in T-20.
Upon his return to the Pakistan T20 team after an embarrassing defeat in the Asia Cup campaign, it seemed as if nothing had gone Babar Azam’s way. Azam was dropped from the Pakistan team after being criticized for his lack of intent and low strike rate.
In his return game, he has once again been out without opening an account. The game’s most successful South African bowler Corbin Bosch took the wicket of the Pakistani legend for the first time.
George Linde’s all-round performance leads Proteas to dominant win in Rawalpindi
South African all-rounder George Linde gave the Proteas an early lead in the series with his all-round performance. However, Corbin Bosch has also been an impressive performer with the ball, while Reeza Hendricks was also doing well with the bat.
After Hendricks’s 60, Linde’s death overshadowed a cameo and helped South Africa set a target of 195 before the home side, which never looked good to chase. Linde took 3 wickets, and Bosch took 4 wickets for 31 and 14 runs respectively.
For Pakistan, Saim Ayub scored the highest score of 37 runs and Mohammad Nawaz was their best batsman, who scored 36 runs at a strike rate of 180. Linde was named player of the match.
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