Asia Cup: Saim Ayub's three-fer against India goes in vain
What's the story
India thrashed Pakistan in the 2025 T20 Asia Cup encounter at Dubai International Stadium. The Men in Blue successfully chased down a modest 128, with Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, and Tilak Varma scripting their win. India lost only three wickets in the chase, all of them produced by spinner Saim Ayub. His scalps showed three different modes of dismissal. Here are the key stats.
Start
Ayub takes three wickets
Abhishek started by smashing Shaheen Afridi for a boundary and six. While he counter-attacked, Ayub dismissed Shubman Gill (10) in the next over. His carom ball outfoxed Gill, who was stumped. Abhishek (31), who continued his assault, fell to Ayub in the fourth over (caught). When the match was nearly done, Ayub knocked over Tilak (31). He conceded 35 runs from four overs.
Numbers
A look at his numbers
While Ayub was impressive with the ball, he departed for a first-ball duck, opening the innings. Notably, the Pakistan opener now has three ducks in his last five T20I innings. As per ESPNcricinfo, he owns 13 wickets at an average of 23.69. With the bat, he has scored 816 runs at a strike rate of 136.00 (4 half-centuries).