Operation Golden Duck: Pakistani Star's Shameful Record Tests Team's Resolve Against India

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): India and Pakistan will face off in the final of the 2025 Asia Cup on Sunday. Team India will aim to win this edition of the tournament with a hat-trick of victories against Pakistan, after Pakistan's top-order batsman Saim Ayub added an embarrassing record to his tally.

Saim Ayub has become the batsman who has been dismissed for zero the most number of times (four) in the T20 Asia Cup. Mashrafe Mortaza, Kinchit Shah, Kusal Mendis and Dasun Shanaka are jointly at the second spot in this list, having been dismissed without scoring three times each. Saim Ayub has played 47 T20 matches for Pakistan so far, in which this is the ninth time he has been dismissed for zero. The unwanted record for the most number of dismissals for Pakistan in this format is held by Umar Akmal, who has been dismissed for zero 10 times in 84 matches.

Saim Ayub failed to open his account against Bangladesh on Thursday. This was the fourth time in the Asia Cup 2025 that Ayub had been dismissed without a run. Saim Ayub failed to score in three consecutive matches against Oman, India, and the UAE. This means he failed to score a single run in the group stage.

Saim then scored 21 runs in the Super 4 match against India, and 2 runs against Sri Lanka. Fans hoped Ayub might improve his form, but he was again dismissed without opening his account against Bangladesh. While Saim Ayub hasn't been able to showcase his batting prowess in this tournament, he has certainly shone with the ball. So far, Saim has bowled 17 overs in six matches, taking a total of 8 wickets for 102 runs.