Asia Cup 2025: Ahead of India vs Pakistan, Saim Ayub promises playing 'fearless cricket'

Pakistan opener Saim Ayub exudes confidence at the crease. After a mixed performance against Oman, where he was dismissed for a duck but picked up two wickets, he maintained that composure during his media interactions, looking ahead to the high-stakes clash against India on Sunday, September 14. The much-hyped contest will be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Having yet to face India in a major encounter, Ayub carries none of the psychological baggage from recent Indo-Pak battles. When Pakistan narrowly lost by six runs while chasing 120 in the 2024 T20 World Cup in the West Indies and USA, the 23-year-old remained on the bench and insists he has no recollection of that defeat. In fact, Ayub believes of being in the present and control the controllables.

“The message of our team management for the last 3-4 months is to learn from the past and move forward. We don’t want to remember the past and don’t want to focus too much on the future,” Saim said as quoted by The Hindu.

The Southpaw is set to be a key player for Pakistan in the high-profile clash, not only for his dynamic opening batting but also for his part-time spin, which claimed Pakistan’s first two wickets against Oman on Friday. Speaking about the Asia Cup as a whole, he emphasized that the team intends to play fearless cricket against every opponent.

“Our aim is to play fearless cricket against everyone. It is going to be a big match for the people. We do not see it like this as a team. We see that we follow the same process day by day in the next match. Memories do not matter. This tournament matters the most. We are not just looking forward to the Pakistan-India match. We are looking forward to winning the tournament," Saim said.

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This clash between the arch-rivals is the first since the Pahalgam attack and India’s subsequent Operation Sindoor, which had cast doubts over whether matches between the two nations would take place. The government clarified that while a bilateral series should not occur, both teams could participate in multi-nation tournaments.