Have saved picture of Babar congratulating me on my fifty: Saim Ayub

Pakistan team's young batting star, Saim Ayub, has revealed an inspiring moment from his career when he played alongside Babar Azam, who is the skipper of Peshawar Zalmi, during the eighth season of the Pakistan Super League (PSL).

In an interview released on PCB's digital platform, Saim stated that it had been his long-time dream to bat alongside world number one batsman and score a fifty in front of him, creating a memorable moment that he could cherish forever.

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"I wished to bat with Babar bhai. When I scored a fifty against Lahore Qalandars in PSL, Babar bhai was appreciating me from the other hand. We opened and I scored fifty infront of him. I celebrated that. I didn't celebrate my first fifty because it was in a losing cause. I the next fifty, I was standing with Babar bhai and felt so proud so I celebrated it," he said.

The 20-year-old also shared a heartwarming moment, in which he revealed that he had kept a photo of himself celebrating his half-century alongside Babar.

"I had done something in his presence. A memorable moment for me. There's a picture where I have raised my bat and he's congratulating me. I've saved that picture, and I keep looking at it. It's inspiring for me and gives me confidence. Sometimes I get tears in my eyes too, because I stood alongside the world number one batsman and made a fifty," he concluded.

It is to be noted that Saim Ayub, who represented Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League eighth edition scored 341 runs in 12 matches with a healthy strike-rate of 165.53. 

Due to his consistent performances, the selectors have decided to retain him for the upcoming New Zealand T20I series, which is scheduled to start on April 14th.