He had sustained a right ankle fracture in January 2025.
Pakistani batter Saim Ayub has produced an excellent all-round performance in the first fixture of the West Indies vs Pakistan T20I series in Lauderhill. This match-winning contribution, just after his return from a right ankle fracture, pushes his case to make it to the Men in Green’s squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. Defending champions India and Sri Lanka will co-host the tournament, which is likely to take place in February 2026.
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The southpaw notched up a brilliant 57 runs off 38 balls while opening the innings. His quickfire knock at a strike rate of 150.00 provided a strong start to the visitors after his opening partner, Sahibzada Farhan, was dismissed for just 14 (12) runs. The 23-year-old also scalped two crucial wickets of the West Indies captain Shai Hope and Sherfane Rutherford in as many overs.
After putting up 178/6 on the scoreboard, a commendable performance from the entire bowling unit helped Pakistan to clinch the series opener by 14 runs. A late surge from Romario Shepherd (12 off five), Jason Holder (30 off 12) and Shamar Joseph (21 off 12) failed to rescue the hosts as Mohammad Nawaz starred with a three-wicket haul in the second innings.
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Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem also had an impressive outing with one wicket each at an economy of 6.75 and 5.00, respectively. But pacer Haris Rauf conceded 41 runs in his four-over quota and went wicketless on his return after the recent hamstring injury.
Pakistan had a stunning run in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022. They qualified for the summit clash by edging out top teams like South Africa and New Zealand in the group stage and knockouts. But Babar Azam and Co. just fell short in the Final against England to secure their second title of the tournament.
However, the Men in Green could not produce a similar performance in the following edition. They finished the league stage in third position and made a group-stage exit from the league after a super-over loss while facing the hosts United States of America (USA), followed by a six-run defeat against India. Eventually, India won the championship by defeating the Proteas by seven runs in the Final.
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