Pakistan are blessed with quality bowlers. Since the inception of international cricket, their pacers have been among the best. Mohammad Asif was one such bowler who could have ruled cricket as batters had to answer to his line and length.
The best in business failed to score runs against him, and he was regularly among the wickets. However, his involvement in spot-fixing in England ended his career and took away a quality bowler from the sport.
Former Pakistan captain and one of the legends of the game, Wasim Akram, recently spoke about Asif and felt bad that Pakistan lost a bowler of his quality.
“Asif is no doubt a talent wasted. After a long time, the world saw a fast bowler like Mohammad Asif. He had great control on the ball and swung both ways. Mohammad Asif being wasted is unfortunate for him as well as Pakistan.”
In 23 Tests, he took 106 wickets at an average of 24.36, while he accumulated 46 scalps in 38 one-day internationals.
In T20Is, he represented the Men in Green in 11 matches, taking 13 wickets.
Mohammad Amir, who was also involved with him, was given another chance to play cricket, but Asif was not lucky as he was completely eliminated from the game.