Sports

Ayub eyeing attention at Ramazan T20 Cup

Fast-bowler hoping to make it big; confident of good show.

Nabeel Hashmi July 11, 2013

State Bank revived their semi-final hopes, beating high-flying UBL by nine runs in their Group A match after defending a modest 124-run target. PHOTO: FILE

KARACHI: While followers lament the dearth of talent in the country, certain players keep sending out loud reminders with their performance.

Fast-bowler Akhtar Ayub, currently representing UBL and Rawalpindi, was part of the Pakistan U19 team that clinched the 2006 World Cup and regularly touched the 90-mile mark.

The 25-year-old’s career has seen him bag just 72 wickets in 30 first-class games as he remained a makeshift bowler at KRL.

After several years of wilderness, the paceman has been able to impress at the ongoing Advance Telecom Ramadan T20 Cup, picking up five wickets from three matches with an economy rate of just 4.58.

“I’ve started to enjoy my bowling now,” Ayub told The Express Tribune. “I’m bowling quick and troubling the top batsmen. My dream was to play for Pakistan but my career never took off after the U19 World Cup. But now I’ve started dreaming big again and hopefully people would realise my potential.”

Armed with pace, Ayub has been seen delivering an excellent yorker – a handy trait in the T20 format – and adds variety with a well-disguised slower ball. The bowler’s Rawalpindi coach Sabih Azhar was pleased with his performance.

“He is quick off the pitch as well which makes him dangerous,” said Azhar. “Ayub isn’t afraid which is an important ingredient missing in most of our present fast-bowlers.”

SBP beat UBL in low-scoring match

State Bank revived their semi-final hopes, beating high-flying UBL by nine runs in their Group A match after defending a modest 124-run target at the National Stadium. After State Bank made 123, UBL were restricted to 114 for five.

State Bank’s Hasan Mehmood took two wickets.

Earlier, quickies Mohammad Irshad and Ayub took three and two wickets respectively to restrict SBP to 124 for nine in their quota.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2013.

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