Asif is making big strides in the LG ICC Cricket rankings for test bowlers. With only 8 test matches under his belt he has already moved to 11th place. What’s really interesting is that he really only performed in the last 7 of them as his debut a while back was a wicketless affair in Australia so since his return he has been in phenominal form. Had he played the home series agaisnt West Indies I’m sure he would have been in the top 10 now but going by current form it wont be too long before he breaks into the top 10. A good showing in the next test match agaisnt South Africa can even put him into the top 10. He is truly an amazing bowler. Not as much speed as some of illustrious countrymen have or had in the past but equally dangerous.
Re: Mohammad Asif
lets hope that it stays that way and inshallah he keeps on improving with time ...he desperatly needs support in form of another good bowler or he will be burnt out real soon.
Re: Mohammad Asif
Yes, that kid is good. On his debut alongwith Khalil I had picked Asif as the better one but unfortunately (or probably fortunately) he was dropped after the Australian tour and Khalil was persisted with (atleast for one more series).
Asif can be of great help to our other bowlers like Rana and Sami in Test arena. I didn’t watch many of Test matches recently but I noticed that Asif was talking to Sami on couple of occasions. Though Sami type of people can learn by sky-lightening only but there is hope.
PS: Please don’t digress this thread towards Sami :nono3:
Re: Mohammad Asif
hahahahahaha…sorry could not resist. 
Re: Mohammad Asif
i think he is the best fast bowler in the world right now with mcgrath gone...he has won pakistan 2 important series against india and srilanka.he is better than lee,ntini and pollock and also shoaib.Shoaib should be there in the top 5 as well.
Re: Mohammad Asif
I wonder who has the record of reaching 50 test wickets in least number of tests. Asif has 44 in 8 tests and he can do it in 9 tests.
Re: Mohammad Asif
^
Charles Turner (AUS) 50 Wickets in 6 Matches :)
Re: Mohammad Asif
MashAllah a very good prospect for Pakistan to benefit from in the next decade atleast.
However, I fear with PCB's lousy policies and adhocism he might get spoiled as well. I pray not InshAllah.
Re: Mohammad Asif
Between October and December last year, when Mohammad Asif and Shoaib Akhtar were in a drug-induced limbo many Pakistani fans openly pleaded that they wouldn’t mind Shoaib not returning but if Asif could be released, well that would be just dandy.
It said nothing new about Shoaib; he divides opinion, sometimes within the same being, during the same day. About Asif though it said all that needed to be said and just two Tests into his return, you can understand the dilemma: sure he’s done wrong but he’s just so good. His seven-wicket haul in the first Test at Centurion couldn’t quite swing it, but with a titan’s effort and a little help from some friends, Asif helped Pakistan equal the series at Port Elizabeth.
At times, watching him in the second innings, where he did most of his damage, was frightening. At any minute, as he rolled in for another over, you felt he could, he would, he should, just stop and say enough. After 38 overs who could blame him?
An attack one bowler short, Inzamam-ul-Haq was shuffling limited resources as shrewdly as he could. Still, Asif began the second innings with a lung-bursting 13-over spell. He rested 20 overs and ended the day with a three-over burst. Next morning, the third of the Test, he started with six then bowled one before lunch and nine immediately after. He wasn’t done, bidding adieu with another six on the run after tea.
But what was scary was how alike each over was, each new one a kind of clone of the one just bowled. He hardly flagged in any spell, so much so that three of his five wickets came in his last 15 overs. Mark Boucher pulled a short ball solidly for four in the 104th over, Asif’s 32nd. Robin Jackman, in commentary, observed “Maybe Asif is just tiring a little now.” Next ball, Boucher was beaten by a snake of a delivery, slanting in and breaking away appreciably. The no-ball, that modern Pakistani curse and one that had gripped him in the first Test (24 no-balls) was shed, as he bowled only two.
The scariest was that each of his last three victims was almost set in stone at the crease and none was a mug; Jacques Kallis had been there for nearly five hours, Herschelle Gibbs and Boucher just under and over two, respectively. Gibbs and Kallis were the product of overs in which he worked away at them, a precocious child diligently working out a particularly tough problem.
In fact, you sense from his wicket-taking celebrations he prefers the challenge of a Kallis or a Rahul Dravid, what purists would call proper batsmen. When he bowled AB de Villiers in the second innings, there was barely a peep from him, no joy revealing itself in the follow through.
Cruel though it is to say, snooty even, it appeared as if de Villiers had been worked out too easily, too quickly, no challenge provided: Asif wanted him out of the way so the serious business of his bowling could begin - the dismantling of Kallis and Ashwell Prince. Ed Joyce, whom he dismissed at a Trent Bridge ODI last summer, was treated like this. Then, Asif ushered him on his way unsmilingly, eyes glinting at the prospect of lining up Ian Bell and subsequently Kevin Pietersen.
Boucher’s wicket made it a fourth five-wicket haul in eight Tests and though a couple of his spells have been more destructive none so far have been quite as immense, as unstinting. Already, barely a year on from becoming a regular, he is just six short of 50 Test wickets. This may be the first time Mohammad Asif has been the subject of this column. It won’t be the last.
He says
“I feel a bit stiff.” Asif’s unsurprising first words to Ian Bishop on TV, after day three, having bowled 38 overs and taken 5 for 76.
He also says
“It was difficult but it was something I had to do. I have bowled that many overs in domestic cricket before. I was trying to keep hitting the stumps and not bowl any wides.” Asif reveals the secrets of his genius.
They say
"He is a modern-day fast bowler based on the likes of [Shaun] Pollock and [Glenn] McGrath. He gives you control and has the ability to hit the seam and make the ball move both ways. In Pakistan terms he is more Sarfraz Nawaz than Imran Khan. He is both humble and confident and very determined. He hates to lose and backs himself.** He said to me when he left Australia (after an unimpressive debut in January 2005), “Don’t worry coach I will show you what I can do. Just wait.”** - Bob Woolmer on Asif.
Re: Mohammad Asif
Amazing stats for Mohammed Asif after first 8 games compared to some of the great fast bowlers.
Glenn McGath 8 matches, Avg of 43.68, 19 wickets
Shaun Pollock 8 matches, avg of 23, 26 wickets
Mohammed Asif 8 Matches, avg of 20.22, 44 wickets
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^ Amazing. I hope he stays fit and keep bowling the way he is doing and get even better. :k:
Re: Mohammad Asif
^Yep thats the key.
Waqar Younus when arrived, had similar stats, but he could not accompalish what he cud'ave.
Re: Mohammad Asif
wonderful performance indeed, but a word of caution, with akther almost dwindled from Pakistan playing 11 (test/odi), how well he fares with gul and then there are supporting act, which we are clueless just coz nazir nor naveed have been able to perform in both test and odi.
With Pakistan cricket mood swings he need couple of partner's support act whom he can rely otherwise burden of getting results everytime may put alot of weight on lanky and sensational bowler.
Re: Mohammad Asif
Crack also helps.. :D
But seriously he is good. :D
Re: Mohammad Asif
He is a Great bowler, Let's hope for the best & pray for him to do the same in future... One day we will see him at # 1
Re: Mohammad Asif
^ He is an Excellent bowler and lets hope he becomes great too!
Re: Mohammad Asif
what the heck…
Re: Mohammad Asif
And Unlike Shoaib, Asif doesn't get "injuries"...
Re: Mohammad Asif
^ touchwood and mashallah
bhai nazar mut lagao :D
Re: Mohammad Asif
Pakistan needs to realize that Asif is their main strike bowler and whenever there are home series, they need to make wickets that suit him.