Mohammad Asif Claims That He Is The Best New Ball Bowler In The Country Right Now

Dec 11, 2016 at 9:11 PM

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Mohammad Asif Claims That He Is The Best New Ball Bowler In The Country Right Now

Mohammad Asif was once the spearhead of Pakistan bowling line-up as his ability to swing the ball at the ideal pace was something which even Shoaib Akhtar lacked as Akhtar relied mainly on the pace whereas the time when Asif came, he brought about a change in Pakistan bowling and took made it looked like a juggernaut. His ability to bowl long spells with the new ball was also something that always worked in his favour but the spot-fixing saga just destroyed his career and now he is just eight days short of celebrating his 34th birthday, an age when a fast bowler seems to retire from international cricket.

Mohammad Asif, who bowled  superlative spell of 4/29 in the final of the first day and night Quaid-Azam Trophy final at the National stadium in Karachi on Saturday, said that he is the best bowler with the new ball and can exploit it to the best for its use,  “If you waste the new ball than you are asking for trouble. In Test cricket in particular, no matter what the opposition or conditions, you have to make the new ball count. No one knows the art of exploiting the new ball better than me.”

Further talking about the fitness, he said that age is not a factor which determines the fitness of a player but it’s the ability to play as he said “All this talk about fitness and age I don’t believe in that particularly when you have a 40 plus player in the national Test side and some in the late thirties.”

“People say spinners mature with age and I believe it is the same with pace bowlers, they also become better and more lethal with age and experience,” he said.

“You can’t even play in domestic cricket if you are not fit,” Asif added.

Surely Asif’ these words mind a lot as Pakistan team currently have two players viz Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq whose age will put few young players to shame as their fitness level is unparalleled. The push-up scenes at Lord’s ground was enough to prove this statement.

Coming back to Asif who is still vying to make a comeback in the national team, the right arm pacer played a total of 23 Test matches in which he scalped 106 wickets. 46 wickets in 36 games though might not be a true indicator of his performance but he was a gem for the team with the new ball. He is making every effort to make a comeback but it looks like it will not be an easy task for him.

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