Saim Ayub set an unfortunate world record as his dreadful form in the 2025 Asia Cup continued during Pakistan's virtual semi-final against Bangladesh on September 25. He was dismissed for a three-ball duck by Mehedi Hasan in the second over of the match at the Dubai International Stadium.
Saim Ayub's duck streak continues
This was the fourth time in just six innings in the ongoing tournament that Ayub has been dismissed without scoring a single run. The 23-year-old recorded golden ducks in Pakistan's first two games against Oman and India, and was then out for a three-ball duck against the UAE. While he was demoted to number three and managed to score 21 runs in the Super 4 clash against India, he followed that up with a knock of just two runs against Sri Lanka, preceding his latest embarrassment tonight.
Saim Ayub has now set an unwanted world record, becoming the first player from a full-member nation to be dismissed for four ducks in a single T20 International series or tournament. While seven batters from associate nations had previously registered four ducks in the same competition, none of those players batted within the top six positions, highlighting the seriousness of Ayub's failure at the top of the order.
This latest duck brings Ayub's total in his T20I career to nine ducks in just 45 matches, making it the second-most by a Pakistan player, only trailing Umar Akmal. Among full-member nations, his current tally is the joint-seventh most by a top-six batter. Overall, Ayub has scored 839 runs in 45 innings for Pakistan in the shortest format of the game, registering three half-centuries at a career average of 19.51.
Pakistan's batting crumbled under pressure in the do-or-die match against Bangladesh as they could only muster 135/8 on the board, thanks to Taskin Ahmed's fiery 3/28.
Pakistan (Playing XI):
Sahibzada Farhan, Fakhar Zaman, Saim Ayub, Salman Agha(c), Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris(w), Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
Bangladesh (Playing XI):
Saif Hassan, Parvez Hossain Emon, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali(w/c), Nurul Hasan, Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Mustafizur Rahman