Pakistan's Saim Ayub set to miss Champions Trophy 2025, Pakistani legend provides an update

Saim Ayub of Pakistan who suffered a fractured ankle versus South Africa in Cape Town has a long recovery road ahead of him and Pakistani legend Shahid Afridi has provided a massive update regarding his chances of competing in the Champions Trophy 2025

Pakistani legend and former skipper Shahid Afridi has provided a huge update regarding the participation chances of Saim Ayub in the forthcoming Champions Trophy 2025 event. 

He has confirmed that the young opener is set to miss this year's marquee event as he continues to recover from a fractured ankle injury he suffered versus South Africa. 

The Pakistani legend shared this update regarding Ayub during a recent interview, shedding light on his struggles with fitness and the lengthy rehabilitation process. 

"I had a chat with him (Ayub) last night and he told me that he would require a minimum of three weeks and only after the end of those three weeks, his rehabilitation process will commence," Afridi said. 

"I gave him the advice of not rushing his recovery procedure. Even a small injury, if not given the appropriate time to heal up properly, can turn into a big and a lengthy one. You're a young player and have a lot Cricket to play in the future, so take your own sweet time recovering from this severe injury," Afridi added. 

The 22-year-old explosive opening batter, who made his maiden International appearance versus Afghanistan in March of 2023, has already managed to establish himself as a key player for the National Team of Pakistan.

In just nine One-Day International contests, Ayub has already managed to slam three amazing centuries and a fifty, with standout performances such as his Man-of-the-series winning-effort versus the Proteas in 2024, where he slammed two hundreds in a 3-0 whitewash victory for Pakistan. 

But, his progress got hampered by a fracture in his right ankle which he sustained on the first day of the Cape Town Test-Match versus the South Africans. This ankle injury has sidelined him for upto six weeks, ruling him out of the Shaheens' Home Test-Series versus the Windows and Tri One-Day International series versus South Africa & New Zealand. 

In order to expedite his recovery procedure, the PCB sent the 22-year-old to London in order to receive specialized-treatment under Azhar Mahmood's supervision who is the assistant coach of the Green Shirts. 

Currently, the Pakistan Cricket Board is monitoring Saim's recovery very closely and they are planning to finalize the squad of the Green Shirts for the forthcoming Champions Trophy event by the 11th of February, ahead of the competition's opening fixture on the 19th of February in Pakistan.

The sources of the Pakistani media have also suggested that the PCB has reportedly opted not to announce the national team's provisional, rather opting to submit the finalised team list directly to ICC.

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