Aggression is the key for batters, says Saim Ayub

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team’s young batting sensation Saim Ayub expressed his belief that it is important for players to be aggressive and play up to the situation of the match.

In a post match television interview after he played a fighting 47 against New Zealand, Saim stated that the top teams around the world also play aggressive cricket, and therefore, he intends to adopt the same style in his batting.

Saim scored 47 off 28 before being run out and falling short of his half-century in the opening match on Friday.

“My plan was to play the shots according to their merit, stay positive and play as long as possible,” he said.

“I think it is important for one to play aggressive cricket if he wants to stay relevant in this era. If you look at the top teams around the world, they play aggressive cricket as well,” he added.

Young Saim and Fakhar Zaman added 79 runs for the third wicket against the Kiwis on Friday and took Pakistan to 109 in the 12th over with Saim getting out for 47 off 28 balls, smashing six fours and two sixes.

“It is disappointing not to be able to complete the half-century but it is okay as I intended to help my team come out of a pressure situation,” he said.

The 20-year-old also mentioned that his experience of playing with Babar Azam during the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has been instrumental in enhancing his batting skills

“Batting is something which anyone can do, but he [Babar] taught me how to go about my batting,” he said.

“You know, one can still make runs despite not putting much effort or planning but what Babar taught me was how to read the game, how to understand the situation and how to plan your innings, which was very helpful,” he added.

On the other hand, New Zealand cricketer Matt Henry felt that his teammates had a lot to learn from the first T20I despite losing the game to Pakistan by 88 runs in Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore.

New Zealand were bowled out for 94 in 15.3 overs replying to Pakistan’s total of 182. Matt Henry starred for Kiwi's bowling with a hat-trick.

Henry said that it was special to achieve the milestone of the T20I hat-trick but having it in a losing cause was disappointing.

“Very special, to achieve hat-trick, and to do it here, was very cool, it's always a shame when you record a milestone like that in a losing cause but nevertheless it is a special one I suppose not many people have done it in New Zealand. So, it's pretty cool to be in that company,” he was quoted by Geo as saying.

Henry first dented Pakistan's progress in the 13th over with the wickets of Shadab Khan and Iftikhar Ahmed off back-to-back deliveries. He returned in the 19th over to dismiss Shaheen Afridi off the first ball to complete his hat-trick.

Henry finished with 3/32, his career-best figure in T20Is and also became just the fourth New Zealand bowler to take a hat-trick in men's T20Is.

Jacob Oram was the first to do so for New Zealand, he was followed by Tim Southee, Michael Bracewell and now Matt Henry.

Henry said that although the start of the series is not ideal for New Zealanders, they’re hopeful of making a comeback in the five-match series.

“Not ideal to have a defeat like there in the first match but it is a five-match series and I think going into our next game, we will be definitely better, just assessing the conditions and I think a lot of people will learn a lot from these game as well,” he said.

“That's a challenge of international cricket, isn't it? I mean, the schedule's very much busy. And I think we can't control it and I think for us we definitely knew what we're coming into. I think that a lot of guys will take some really good learning from this game and hopefully, we can implement them and so it's going to be a really quick turnaround when we'll be back here to have another game,” he said when asked if tight schedule and limited opportunity to train ahead of the series was any problem for the touring side.

Replying to a question, the cricketer said that he feels that in the bowling his side was “really good in periods” but added that “we still can probably adjust a little bit and be a little bit more just accurate”.

“I think it was a couple we can just tighten the screws a little bit but as a whole, it was good, like I said, the guys are just going to really learn a lot from the information they would have gathered from this wicket and be able to take that into the next game plan for the next game,” he said. He also praised the crowd in Lahore during the first T20I saying that “the crowd was awesome.”

“It was very noisy and very passionate. We're really enjoying our stay here in Pakistan and the people have been absolutely lovely,” he said.