Ramiz Raja Slams Saim Ayub And Azam Khan Amid Pakistan's Disastrous Show In New Zealand

Pakistan are in deep trouble. They haven’t won a single game in competitive cricket across formats since their 21-run win against New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup group stages in India last year. Since then the Green Army have played 6 matches and have lost all 6 of them and former PCB chief Ramiz Raja has blamed Pakistan’s miss-and-hit approach as the key to their losses and also issued warnings to young batters Azam Khan and Saim Ayub.

Both of them have failed to get going in the first 2 of a 5-match T20I series in New Zealand. Saim Ayub who opens alongside Mohammad Rizwan, has failed to make an impact whatsoever and his scores of 27 and 1 describe the story. As an opener, Ayub and his partner Rizwan too have to make amends and ensure they get Pakistan off to a flyer so that the following batters do not get under pressure when they get out.

It’s also about setting the tone right away especially when you are chasing totals of 170+. Ayub who has a strike rate of nearly 140 has been a major disappointment up top while wicket-keeper batsman Azam Khan has also had a similar performance, something Ramiz Raja pointed out as a major issue.

Both of them are stars in Pakistan’s domestic circuit, especially in the Pakistan Super League. They have gone through the ranks of PSL where they mostly play in flat batting pitches but when it comes to putting up the same type of performances in foreign pitches, Ayub and Azam’s form disappears.

Star batter Babar Azam without any shocks has been their best player in the series until now but it’s not a one-man game is it? While Saim Ayub has accounted for 28 runs in the series, Azam Khan has scored 12 across both of his innings in Auckland and Hamilton.

“Put In More Efforts, Opportunities Like These Don’t Come Again”, Ramiz Raja Gives His Honest Opinion

In response to their poor outings, former batsman Ramiz Raja has called out the PCB for their approach in selecting players based on their strike rates and believes that favoring the miss-and-hit culture in Pakistan cricket is not sustainable.

Ramiz Raja specifically targeted Saim Ayub and Azam Khan, both of whom had skyrocketing strike rates in PSL, and asked them to make use of their opportunities instead of degrading the “team combination”.

“New players have come into the team based on their strike rates. Whether its Saim Ayub or Azam Khan, relying on a miss and hit approach is not sustainable for the entire team combination. You need to put in more effort because opportunities like these don’t come again as these are brilliant batting conditions.” – Ramiz Raja said. 

Must-Win Situation For The Green Army

The 3rd T20I, which is set to take place tomorrow at the University Oval cricket ground in Dunedin, Pakistan will have their final chance to avoid another series loss on foreign soil. They must treat all their remaining matches in this series as if they are finals.

After the series concludes on January 21, some of their players will get busy playing in franchise leagues around the world before PSL 2024 on flat decks begins from February onwards. They must look to sort out their issues right now because by the time they play another T20I series, which is against England in May, they might not have enough time to set their combinations for the ICC T20 World Cup in June.