KARACHI: Pakistan’s rising star Saim Ayub has credited Peshawar Zalmi and the coaches with becoming an all-rounder in his previous two Pakistan Super League (PSL) matches.
Ayub debuted as a specialist top-order batsman in the Pakistan men’s cricket team with Zalmi on the back of PSL 2023, during which he scored 341 runs in 12 innings at a decent average of 28.41 and a strike rate of 165.53.
However, in the next season of the marquee league, Ayub became a utility player for the 2017 champions thanks to his impeccable bowling skills, which helped him take eight wickets in nine innings at a remarkable average of 22.37.
His bowling exploits for Zalmi in the PSL finally earned him an opportunity to showcase his all-round brilliance in the men’s national team and the 23-year-old has grasped it with both hands as he has now taken 34 international wickets for Pakistan across formats.
Ayub has been very successful with the ball in T20Is, taking 21 scalps in 28 innings at an impressive average of 24.33 and an economy rate of just 6.90, helping him overtake India’s Hardik Pandya to become the shortest-format top-ranked all-rounder in October last year.
Currently representing Sylhet Titans in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) 2025-26, Saim Ayub revealed that he bowls occasionally during club cricket in an exclusive interview with International Cricket News.
“I used to bowl a bit in club cricket as well, but since the PSL, Peshawar has helped me a lot,” Ayub told the website.
“Then when I came to the Pakistan team, they trusted me to do technical and tactical work. But to be honest, I didn’t expect to see such good bowlers. Credit goes to the coaches who worked so hard.
He particularly praised current bowling coach of the Pakistan men’s cricket team, Ashley Noffke, as a “good coach” from whom he learned a lot.
“The current bowling coach in the Pakistan team has worked a lot on our bowling and helped me a lot. (…) He is Australian. And he is a good coach and I got a lot of help because of his bowling input.”