Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 10 (ANI): Former cricketer Ricky Ponting on Monday opened up on star Pakistan batter Saim Ayub's absence from the Champions Trophy 2025 squad and said that the 22-year-old's place will be a 'massive gap to fill' for the Men in Green.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Friday confirmed the omission of opener Saim Aub from the upcoming Champions Trophy 202. The tournament will be played in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

Saim Ayub has been ruled out of games for the next 10 weeks as he is still recovering from his injury in England, as per the ICC.

While Ayub will miss Pakistan's ICC Champions Trophy defence at home, he has not yet been ruled out of the white-ball tour of New Zealand in March.

Speaking at The ICC Review, Ponting showered praise on Ayub and called him a 'high-quality' cricketer.

'Saim Ayub is a high-quality player, and his absence is a massive gap to fill,' Ponting was quoted by ICC as saying.

Ayub made his ODI debut in 2024 against Australia, following that he has played nine 50-over matches and scored 515 runs at a strike rate of 105.53. The young batter slammed three centuries and one half-century.

The former Australia cricketer also hailed Pakistan's bowling attack and said that Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah have been 'terrific' in the recently ongoing ODI Tri Series series.

'But Pakistan's fast bowling brigade is very, very good. Led by Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, who've been terrific in recent series, they have the pace and skill to trouble any batting line-up. Babar has been a bit up and down in recent years, but if he and Rizwan can bring their A-games, that's when Pakistan becomes incredibly dangerous,' he added.

The Men in Green won the last Champions Trophy event held in 2017. This time, Pakistan are hosting this 2025 edition, along with the UAE.

Mohammad Rizwan will lead the team, having done so since Babar Azam stepped down from the role after the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in 2023. This is the first 50-over ICC tournament since then.

Pakistan will kick off their voyage in the Champions Trophy 2025 on February 19, when they take on New Zealand in Karachi. The Men in Green's second group stage match will be against India in Dubai on February 23. Rawalpindi will host Rizwan-led Pakistan's final group match against Bangladesh.

Pakistan squad: Mohammad Rizwan (c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi. (ANI)