Only 21, Saim Ayub continues to impress as he scored a big hundred in a domestic List A game in the Pakistan Cup today, November 9.

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Playing for Karachi Whites against Rawalpindi, the left-handed Ayub opened the batting and struck a 125-ball 179. His knock included 15 fours and 11 sixes, coming at a strike rate of 143.

The Pakistan Cup is played in a 45-over format, where each team bats for 45 overs instead of the usual 50 that is seen in List A cricket. However, it still qualifies as a List A competition, meaning Ayub’s century will be added to his career List A records.

Within the last one year, the young batting sensation from Pakistan has established his credentials as a potential all-format superstar for the future.

In the recently concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, the premier first-class competition in Pakistan, Ayub scored 553 runs from just four games at an average of 79, including three hundreds. He was seventh on the list of highest run-scorers for the season, with everyone else in the top 15 having played at least five games.

Before that, Ayub had lit up the Caribbean Premier League. Playing for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Ayub scored 478 runs in the 2023 season at a strike rate of 143, crossing 50 four times. He finished just three runs behind Shai Hope, the highest run-scorer of the season.

And now, he has started the Pakistan Cup with a bang, registering his highest List A score so far.

Ayub shot into the limelight in the Pakistan Super League earlier this year. He scored 341 runs from 12 games for Peshawar Zalmi at a strike rate of 166 with as many as five fifties. The only other batter to cross fifty as many times as Ayub in PSL 2023 was Babar Azam.

Immediately after the PSL, Ayub was handed an international debut in Pakistan’s T20I series against Afghanistan. While he has not been able to put up a breakthrough performance in his first seven outings in T20Is, given the way he is going in domestic and franchise cricket, it is only a matter of time before that gets translated to international cricket.

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