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Ponting believes that while captain Babar Azam and reliable opener Mohammad Rizwan will be crucial for Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign, a young batsman at the top of their lineup could emerge as a surprising asset.
Ricky Ponting, the Australian cricket legend, is confident that the relatively inexperienced Pakistani batsman, Saim Ayub, has the potential to leave a mark in the T20 World Cup. Ponting suggests that this young talent, positioned at the forefront of the Men in Green’s batting lineup, could spring a surprise during the tournament.
Although captain Babar Azam and reliable opener Mohammad Rizwan are pivotal to Pakistan’s T20 World Cup prospects, Ponting suggests that a young batsman at the top of their batting lineup might unexpectedly shine.
Ayub partnered with Rizwan in opening Pakistan’s batting in the recent T20I series against Ireland. Ponting suggests that this aggressive left-handed batsman is worthy of attention during the T20 World Cup.
“I loved the look of Ayub out here during the Australian summer. He played that Test match in Sydney, I reckon it was and I didn’t know much about him then,” Ponting told The ICC Review.
“When I’m sitting there commentating, I like to know about players and what they can do, so I actually went back and had a look at some of his PSL stuff. And he’s a proper player. I think he’s a real star in the making,” he added.
According to Ponting, Pakistan appears significantly more stable with Babar Azam at the helm. Babar regained his position as Pakistan’s white-ball captain earlier this year, after Shaheen Afridi’s brief leadership stint in T20Is. Ponting is optimistic about Pakistan’s prospects in the T20 World Cup, believing that under Babar’s leadership, they stand a better chance of surpassing their runner-up finish in the previous edition and potentially replicating their title success from 2009.
“Captaincy just sits well with some people and it doesn’t sit well with others. We’ve seen it through the years that some of the best players that have ever played the game have not necessarily made the best captains and the thing that makes some of the very best players so good is how focused they are on what they need to do to get better and to be the best and find a way every day to get better,” Ponting said.
“And when you are captain, you can’t do that. You’ve got to actually compartmentalise what you’re doing, look after your own game, look after all the guys around you. So some guys can manage that better than others,” he added.
Ponting believes that Babar has learned from his downfall.
“I reckon Babar when he first started, I had that feeling that he… because if you look at his record, his numbers went down on the back of it. So I think he might have learned a bit from that. Shaheen didn’t set the world on fire as a leader either, so I think going back into a World Cup it just looks like a more settled team when you’ve got someone like Babar as captain rather than Afridi,” he added.
