KANDY: Pakistan’s in-form opener Sahibzada Farhan has backed his opening partner Saim Ayub ahead of the crucial ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 Super Eight match against England at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
Ayub, who scored his last half-century in Pakistan’s third T20I series against Australia earlier this month, has not been able to emulate his batting prowess in the ongoing Twenty20 tournament so far.
The left-handed opener has amassed 63 runs at a staggering average of 15.75 in four matches, with his highest score of 24 coming in the campaign opener against the Netherlands.
While Ayub has been a significant contributor to Pakistan’s spin bowling stock, taking five wickets at a remarkable average of 10.60 and an economy rate of 6.62, his lean patch has been a major concern for the 2009 champions as he is yet to make a solid start with the bat at the mega event.
In contrast, Ayub’s opening partner Farhan has dominated the runs with the bat, topping the T20 World Cup 2026 run-scorers list with 220 runs in four innings at an impressive average of 73.33.
However, the right-handed opener was confident of his partner’s abilities to deliver an impactful performance in the upcoming matches.
“Look, Saim Ayub is a player who cannot perform in every match because of the impact he imposes when he scores runs, but there is a firm belief that he will score decent runs and beat us,” Farhan told reporters at the pre-match press conference.
“And T20I is a format where not every player performs (in every match) and some players have certain roles, but we have full confidence in Sime,” he added.