Saim Ayub speaks about his recent bowling improvements as he credits the PSL and the bowling coaches for resurgence.
Saim Ayub credits PSL, coaches for bowling strides.
With Saim Ayub recently named the nuber one T20 All-rounder in the ICC rankings, he speaks about the rapid strides he has made from a hard-hitting opener to a bonafide powerplay option with the ball.
“The journey has been very good”, says Ayub about his bowling in the last 2 years. “And it feels like those two or three years passed in just two days. And it feels like just yesterday that we came to the BPL and did an interview with you, and today we are doing it again. So, that’s life. And overall, the journey is good and I keep enjoying it.
“I used to do a little bit of bowling in club cricket as well, but since the PSL happened, Peshawar helped me a lot. And then when I came into the Pakistan team, they showed belief in me and did a lot of technical and tactical work with me. But to be honest, I was not expecting that I would see such good bowling figures. But the credit goes to the coaches who worked so much, and I also put in full effort that if I can help the team, then why not.”
When asked about his ability to bowl both off and leg-spin, Ayub cites the period of COVID-19 where he slowly and steadily honed his skills on both sides.
“During the COVID period in 2020, I tried leg-spin. When I saw in 2019-20 that a new trend had started, especially finger spin, which Mujeeb brought in, so when that trend started, I said let’s try it. And I started enjoying it in the net sessions. Whenever I was free, I started doing it. And then, over time, muscle memory developed.”