Mohammad Asif

Mohammad Asif Biography

Mohammad Asif had the potential to become an all-time great. Unfortunately, he took a course that took him into a downward labyrinthine spiral, kept making one mistake after another before vanishing into near-oblivion.

Just before the 2006 Champions Trophy, he tested positive for Nandrolone and received a one-year ban (it was lifted two months later). He tested positive for Nandrolone again, this time during the inaugural IPL, and was banned from IPL for a year. The same year he was detained in Dubai when illegal drugs were found in his bag at Dubai Airport. In between all this, he was hit by Shoaib Akhtar with a bat inside the dressing-room.

But the worst blow came in 2010, when he was caught for spot-fixing. He was banned by ICC for seven years and was subjected to a one-year prison sentence.

And yet, despite all this, Asif was as exciting a fast bowler as they made them. Quick but not express, Asif thrived on his remarkable accuracy and his ability to move the ball off the pitch either way.

In Test cricket, his 106 wickets came at 24.36: the average has been bettered only by three Pakistanis — Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, and Wasim Akram; and Waqar and Shoaib are the only ones to have a better strike rate than his 48.7. In all First-Class cricket, his 379 wickets came at 24.

His first special spell was for Pakistan A against a touring England side, with 7 for 62. He earned a Test call and bowled Pakistan to a win over India at Karachi with 4 for 78 and 3 for 48: in the second innings, he clean bowled Virender Sehwag, VVS Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar.

At Kandy that winter, Asif took 6 for 44 but Pakistan conceded a 109-run lead. Unperturbed, he took 5 for 27 to bowl out Sri Lanka for 73. He took 17 wickets in the series at under 11.

The following summer, he earned a call-up from Leicestershire. When Pakistan toured South Africa that winter, he took 7 in a Test to help win a Test at Port Elizabeth and had 19 wickets at 18.47.

Towards the end of his chequered career, he found an ally in young Mohammad Aamer, who unfortunately turned out to be his partner-in-crime in the spot-fixing scandal. That summer, he took 23 wickets at 28.

He was not a decent (but not outstanding) limited-overs bowler. He had his moments, the most special coming in the 2007 World T20 match against India: he bowled unchanged at the start and finished with 4-0-18-4, taking out the first four wickets.

A rank tail-ender, he has scored 14 ducks in the 25 times he has got out in Test cricket. His 13 unbeaten innings include 5 scoreless innings as well. In 2006, he scored 5 consecutive ducks, joining an unwanted list that also features Bob Holland and Ajit Agarkar.

Abhishek Mukherjee

Mohammad Asif Batting & Fielding Averages

Career	M	In	R	NO	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s	Ct	St
Test	23	38	141	13	29	5.640	463	30.45	0	0	19	0	3	0
ODIs	38	16	34	7	6*	3.777	100	34.00	0	0	2	0	5	0
T20s	11	3	9	3	5*	--	3	300.0	0	0	2	0	3	0
World Cup	0	--	--	--		--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--

Mohammad Asif Bowling Averages

Career	M	B	R	W	Avg	EC	SR	5WI	10WM	BBI	BBM
Test	23	5171	2583	106	24.36	2.997	48.	7	1	6/41	11/71
ODIs	38	1941	1524	46	33.13	4.711	42.19	0	0	3/28	3/28
T20s	11	257	343	13	26.38	8.007	19.76	0	0	4/18	4/18
World Cup	0	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--		3/28

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