Saim Ayub will make his Test debut for Pakistan at the SCG after being named in the XI for the New Year Test against Australia – here are his accomplishments in first-class cricket so far.

The 21-year-old will become the first batter since Saud Shakeel in December 2022 and the 16th player overall in the last three years to make his Test debut for Pakistan when he takes the field at the SCG for the third and final match against Australia. Ayub, who plays for Karachi in domestic cricket, has impressed in first-class cricket, averaging 46.47 after 14 games with three hundreds and as many fifties. He also has one wicket.

Saim Ayub’s accomplishments in first-class cricket

Ayub, who has played eight T20Is for Pakistan since making his debut earlier this year, made his first-class debut for Sindh in the 2022-23 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and made 71 in his first innings. He also sent down a couple of overs, conceding seven runs against Central Punjab. It was to be the start of an impressive debut season for the youngster, who ended with 516 runs in 10 games with the help of three half-centuries.

Ayub came close to registering his first hundred against Southern Punjab in his third match but was dismissed on 95, bowled by Ali Usman. His knock, however, helped Karachi to a draw after conceding a 97-run lead in the first innings. Ayub made 42 and 48 in his next two games before scoring 60 against Northern. He failed to convert another start against Balochistan, scoring 41 in 68 deliveries. Even though he did not get big scores through the competition, he ended with a strike rate of 74.03, the highest among all batters with at least 275 runs in the competition. Ayub also hit eight sixes.

His first-class stocks rose in 2023/24 where he ended the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy with 553 runs at an average of 79. Playing for Karachi Whites, Ayub scored three hundreds including a double ton in four matches to give further evidence of his talent. He reached his first hundred in first-class cricket in his first game of the season against Multan, making a patient 335-ball 142* after Karachi managed only 194 in the first innings, in which he top-scored with 40.

In the final against Faisalabad, Ayub made a counter-attacking 203 at a strike rate of close to 80 in the first innings, helping his team to a huge total of 543, the highlight being an astonishing no-look six.

After Karachi Whites gained a massive lead, Ayub reached three figures in the second innings as well, scoring 109 in 179 deliveries, becoming the first player in the history of the competition to score a double hundred and a hundred in the final.

He carried on his form in the Pakistan One-Day Cup that followed, ending as the highest run-getter in the competition with 397 runs from eight games and was picked for the Australia Test series thereafter.

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