Nasser Hussain has criticised Pakistan for bringing Saim Ayub into their Test side straight from the Caribbean Premier League, saying the young batter “shouldn’t be here”.
Ayub’s return to Test cricket turned into a nightmare at Edgbaston. The opener made two ducks against England and faced only 11 balls across the match, with Ollie Robinson dismissing him in both innings.
The timing of his arrival drew particular criticism from Hussain. Ayub travelled to England after playing T20 cricket in the CPL and entered a Test without recent first-class cricket behind him.
“The truth is he shouldn’t be here. He came from the CPL and hasn’t played first-class cricket in some time,” Hussain said on Sky Sports.
The former England captain questioned Pakistan’s decision to move a player directly from T20 cricket into the demanding conditions of a Test in England.
“I don’t know who thinks it’s the right thing to fly someone over from foreign conditions, playing a completely different format, and think they’re going to be fine in these conditions against a Dukes ball, against Ollie Robinson and England’s bowling attack,” he said.
Hussain argued that preparation becomes even more important for a batter at the top of the order in England, where the moving Dukes ball can expose technical weaknesses.
He also recalled Virender Sehwag’s experience at the same ground. India once flew Sehwag into England without enough match practice, and the former opener struggled at Edgbaston.
“Virender Sehwag tried it on this ground, if you remember… they flew him in. Virender Sehwag got a pair, and that’s Virender Sehwag, who’s a better, more experienced player than Saim,” Hussain said.
Ayub still carries some responsibility for his dismissals, Hussain acknowledged. However, he placed greater scrutiny on the decision-makers who selected him.
“So a bit of responsibility goes to the lad for the shot he played. But also, whoever thought that was a seriously good decision and that he was going to go okay this week?”
Hussain then broadened his criticism to Pakistan’s approach to Test cricket.
“It is just a sort of disrespect and disregard for Test match cricket,” he said. “Test match cricket, as any cricketer will tell you, is the toughest format.”
He also stressed the difficulty of opening the batting in England and questioned the assumption that a player can simply arrive from another part of the world and immediately adapt.
Pakistan ended the second day at 52 for two in their second innings, leaving the match still in the balance. For Ayub, however, the Edgbaston Test has already underlined the challenge of moving from T20 cricket to Test cricket without adequate preparation.
