Mohammad Asif
Player BioDate of Birth: 20th December, 1982
Place of Birth: Sheikhupura, Pakistan
Age: 23 years
Height: 6 foot, 4 inches
Left handed Batsman and Right Arm Fast Bowler
Mohammad Asif is the new pace sensation in Pakistan Cricket. He has only played a few international cricket matches but is already being compared to the great Australian Glenn McGrath. He shares a similar high arm action to McGrath and probes the corridor of uncertainty outside the off stump. He has proved lethal in his short international career as he gets the ball to move both ways creating doubt in the mind of the batsman. Unlike some other Pakistani bowlers that focus on sheer pace, he concentrates on maintaining his line and length outside off stump. His fullish length and extra bounce give little time to the batsmen to judge whether the ball will nip back or outswing. The result of this uncertainty was revealed in the 3rd Test Match against India in early 2006 where two top line Indian batsmen lost their middle stump because the ball nipped back between bat and pad. Mohammad Asif is taller than the other Pakistan bowlers which adds variety to the Pakistani pace attack. Bowlers such as Akhtar and Sami rely on pace and thier deliveries skid through. Asif is more effective in unfriendly bowling conditions because he extracts more bounce from a fullish length and hitting the deck hard can create enough seam movement even on flat tracks to worry the batsmen. His accuracy of line and length is astonishing and is unrivalled in recent times. Pakistani bowlers have often bowled magic deliveries but these deliveries are usually interspersed by some deliveries that are significantly off line and can result in relieving the pressure off the batsmen. It will be interesting to follow the development of Mohammad Asif's career to see if he can maintain his line and length as he tries to up his pace from 135kph to 145kph.
News Updates:
December 5, 2006 - Mohmmad Asif's 1 year ban is over turned on appeal by a PCB tribunal.
August 28, 2006 - Mohammad Asif becomes the first bowler to bowl a maiden over in an International Twenty20 match against England. The maiden over included two wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Strauss both dispatched without scoring. The ball that uprooted KP's middle stump was reminiscent of his deliveries against Laxman and Sehwag that nipped back from off stump to take middle stump
August 26, 2006 - This site gets mentioned and quoted in an Australian newspaper by the descriptive name: "The Australian" - read article: Ball-tamper more than it seams - The title a not so original play on words that plagues every story headline relating to the recent hair-raising ;-) Oval fiasco.
This is not an official site. Just a site set up by an admirer. I will not comment on the ball tampering issue till the ICC completes the investigation despite the fact that no evidence has been put forward as yet by the ICC. However, as an Asif fan I must state that the success of Asif so far has been with the new ball getting movement both ways as can be witnessed from the video link at the bottom of this page.
Therefore, the quote "Just how Asif makes the ball move both ways could yet prove the key to unlocking the mystery of the ball-tampering charge which has destroyed a Test match and made international cricket a laughing stock." does not hold true for his success before the last test match which was based on new ball movement and had nothing to do with reverse swing. email your views to the webmaster
April 05, 2006 - Mohammad Asif takes the man of the match and man of the series award in the Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Series. In the 2nd test match he took a career best haul of 11 wickets. In the second innings of the second test for Sri Lanka, Mohammad Asif took 5 wickets to help Pakistan scuttle Sri Lanka for only 73 runs.
February 15, 2006 - Mohammad Asif was fined 10 percent of his match fee for excessive appealing in the 3rd ODI against India.
His fine was the result of his not confirming the dismissal by turning back to look at the umpire. The act of not confirming the dismissal by looking back at the umpire is considered as excessive appealing.
Febrauary 13, 2006 - Mohammad Asif had bowling figures of O-10, R-47, W-2, (1nb,2w) against India in the 3rd ODI
He dismissed the Indian opener Gambhir by a delivery that swung back in to the left hander's pads as he stepped too far across his stumps. The ball brushed his thigh pad as it went on to hit leg stump.
The Indians sent in Irfan Pathan who lasted only two deliveries as he was taken by surprise by an excellent bouncer that cramped him for room. He tried to fend off the bouncer but the ball brushed his gloves on the way to the keeper, Kamran Akmal.
Asif continued to bowl an exceptional line to bother Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid who struggled but survived by showing great respect to Asif by leaving the majority of his deliveries in the corridor of uncertainty.
February 11, 2006 - Mohammad Asif had bowling figures of O-6, M-1, R-28, W-0 in the 2nd ODI against India.
He was not given a second spell as India was cruising to victory. Asif fans were baffled by the captain's decision to not use the full quota of his overs to show Indians that Pakistan was going to fight till the last ball. Instead of bringing back Asif, the Pakistani captain decided to use his off-spinners to let India cruise to victory.
February 08, 2006 - Mohammad Asif had bowling figures of O-9.4, M-2, R-30, W-3 against India in the 1st ODI against India.
Mohammad Asif dismissed Virender Sehwag with his first delivery of the match. The peach of a delivery that dismissed the destructive Sehwag pitched on the line of off stump and kicked off the pitch with some outswing that resulted in Sehwag fishing for the ball outside his off stump but just managed to edge the delivery to the Pakistani Keeper.
He also took the vital wicket of Dhoni that was looking to take the game away from Pakistan. Later in the match he dismissed Kaif that was looking to score rapidly in the last 10 overs.
February 01, 2006 - Mohammad Asif starred in the 3rd Test Match win against India to win the series for Pakistan by demolishing the strong Indian batting line up.
His off cutters to send the stumps of the Indian batsmen cart wheeling is a memory that Pakistani cricket fans will remember as Asif announcing himself as a future Pakistan cricket star. Pakistan fans have uploaded his demolition job against the Indians on Google:
Video of Mohammad Asif Bowling on Google Video
Mohammad Asif
