Former Pakistan Cricketer Mohammad Asif, whose promising international career was cut short by his involvement in the infamous spot-fixing scandal that took place during the team’s tour of England in 2010, has launched a stinging attack at his compatriot and legendary pacer Waqar Younis.
Just like Waqar, Asif, who was known for his ability to swing the ball either way (reverse-wing) claimed that the legendary fast-bowler used to ‘cheat with the ball’ to get a reverse swing. In fact, he also said Waqar did not know how to bowl with the new ball and learned about it only towards the twilight of his career.
“He [Waqar] used to cheat with the ball to do reverse swing. He didn’t know how to bowl with the new ball in most of his career. He learned a bit about bowling a new ball in the twilight phase of his career. You know him as a master of reverse swing but he never developed a single bowler who could bowl a perfect reverse swing,” Asif told ARY News.
“These people are in coaching for the last 20 years but they never produced quality bowlers. They lack consistency in making combinations. We have quantity, not quality bowlers. There is a pool of eight pacers and they are being rotated with no plan. This approach needs to be changed,” he added.
Asif also took digs at Waqar’s ability as a coach. He said that Waqar, who is the bowling coach of Pakistan, is yet to develop a bowler who could bowl perfect reverse swing. The 38-year-old also feels Pakistan do not have quality pacers at the moment and called for a change in approach.
Talking about Asif, he was banned for match-fixing, along with Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt, by the ICC and last played an international match back in 2010. In total, he picked up 106 wickets in 23 Tests and 46 wickets in 38 ODIs, having made his debut in 2005.