Mohammad Asif (cricketer)

Not to be confused with Mohammad Asif (Omani cricketer).

Mohammad Asif

Source: [1], April 30 2008

Mohammad Asif (Urdu: محمد آصف) (born 20 December, 1982 in Sheikhupura) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm fast-medium bowler.

Asif has played for Khan Research Labs, the National Bank Quetta, Sheikhupura, Sialkot and Leicestershire. He made his Test match debut against Australia in January 2005.

In 2006 there was controversy over Asif after he originally tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid, Nandralone, before having a ban imposed on him overturned on appeal. He was later withdrawn from Pakistan's World Cup squad with an unrelated injury.

Career

After impressing in domestic Pakistani cricket, Mohammad Asif was fast tracked into the Pakistan test squad and made his first appearance against Australia in January 2005. He bowled 18 overs without taking a wicket and Australia won by 9 wickets.

Asif was subsequently dropped from the side but returned a year later in January 2006 for the home tour against India. In the second Test, Asif bowled 34 overs and took the wicket of Yuvraj Singh. It was the third Test in Karachi, however, where Asif would make headlines. After a poor batting display by Pakistan, Asif took 4 for 78 in the first innings, including the wickets of V. V. S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid and, once again, Yuvraj Singh, to help Pakistan take a six-run lead. Asif returned in the second innings with three clean bowled wickets of Virender Sehwag, Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar to lead Pakistan to victory. His series against the Indians was blighted by a fine imposed by match referee Chris Broad for overappealing and premature celebration of a wicket.

Asif followed up his match-winning efforts against India in Pakistan's next tour in Sri Lanka, where he took a career-best 11 for 71 in the 2nd Test, in another dramatic come-from-behind victory.

In November 2005, Leicestershire announced the signing of Asif for the 2006 season after he had played a game for their second XI in 2004. Leicestershire's chairman Neil Davidson described him as a "bowler with the ability to generate great pace". Asif did relatively well picking up 25 wickets in 7 first class games before leaving to join the Pakistan squad for their tour of England. Asif was due to line up again with Leicestershire for the 2007 season but due to injury problems was asked not to play by the PCB

Asif missed the first three Tests in Pakistan's tour to England in the summer of 2006, but returned to the side for the fourth Test and immediately made an impact, picking up four wickets (Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen) in the first innings at the Oval, and another in the second (Marcus Trescothick).

He made history when he became the first bowler to bowl a maiden over in Twenty20 cricket. In fact he managed to pick up two wickets during that over, first of Kevin Pietersen for a golden duck and then of Andrew Strauss, also without scoring.

A lot was made of the duel between Mohammad Asif and Kevin Pietersen in matches between them. Indeed Asif enjoyed success against Pietersen having taken his wicket five times, with three of those dismissals coming from the first ball without scoring.

Asif claimed 19 wickets abroad in Pakistan's test series against South Africa in 2007. This feat lifted him to eighth in the LG ICC Test player rankings after only nine appearances - equalling the record for the fewest matches taken by a Pakistan bowler to reach the top 10, shared by Waqar Younis and Pervez Sajjad.

Following the 2-1 test series loss against South Africa, Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq praised Asif's performance, "Asif has immaculate length control and a natural ability to swing the ball both ways. He is also quick to spot a weakness in batsmen and work on it." Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer added, "He [Asif] 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.

Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan agreed with the assessment of Asif's progress, saying: "Asif is well on his way to become one of the greats. If he gains a little bit of pace through weight training he can be more lethal."

In August 2007, Asif was offered 100 million rupees (US$2,432,285) to play in Indian Cricket League (ICL), before he joined the Indian Premier League (IPL) instead. He was subsequently drafted by the Delhi DareDevils for US $650,000.

Controversies

Drug Scandal

On October 16 2006, Asif was suspended by the PCB along with team mate Shoaib Akhtar, and was pulled from the Champions Trophy after the pair failed drug tests for the performance-enhancing substance Nandrolone.

England batsman Andrew Strauss said the news had rocked cricket. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, he said: "When drugs are used in any sport it is not a great day for that sport and this not a great day for cricket."

On 1 November 2006, the PCB handed down a two-year suspension to Shoaib Akhtar and a one-year suspension to Mohammad Asif, banning them from professional cricket for the duration. Both Asif and Shoaib have been added to Pakistan Olympic Association list of doping offenders. The tribunal set to investigate steroid use revealed that Asif had been using a protein supplement, Promax-50. The panel had reported to have shown a degree of leniency to Asif as they believe that he did not understand what he was taking and stopped at the request of the physiotherapist. Both Akhtar and Asif appealed against the ban. A second tribunal was formed. On December 5 both were acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their drug ban appeal. The decision was made two to one with Hasib Ahsan and Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim in favour of the acquittal. Statement by Justice Ebrahim: "This appeal committee [therefore] holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence," Ibrahim said. "The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws."

However, the WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency was unhappy with the decision and was to challenge the decision to lift the bans on the fast bowlers, and taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The ICC, cricket's world governing body, has supported the WADA appeal adding that it was committed to a dope free game.

On 6 December 2006, Asif spoke out in his defence in an interview with the BBC. When asked to explain the presence of Nandrolone in his body, Asif cited a lack of awareness in Asian countries and said that he had taken some vitamins and protein supplements during the team's 2006 tour of England, which led to the problem. He also mentioned that medicines are easier to obtain in Pakistan, with little information available about the quality of the medicines.

On March 1 2007, Akhtar and Asif were ruled out of the Pakistani squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup by team officials, minutes before the squad was to depart for the West Indies. The team management along with the PCB said their injuries were too severe to risk taking them to the Caribbean. Since neither of the two had been declared fit they had not undergone official doping tests. However, Pakistani officials told cricket sources off the record that the team management had feared that they would fail the doping tests as it was likely traces of Nandrolone were still present in their system.

However, on July 2 2007, the Court of Arbitration for Sport later dropped the case, ruling it had no jurisdiction to challenge the decision made by PCB.
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Religion Factor

On 6 December 2006 Asif, in an interview with the BBC Asian Network, complained that the Pakistan cricket team face an anti-Muslim bias. He first suggested that being Islamic means the team runs into problems. He was then asked by the interviewer if he feels the team are "picked on". He replied "Yeah treatment is going to be different because we know that there is a religion problem and other problems." Asif went on to defend the team's religiousness saying, "I think it's a very good thing [that the Pakistani team pray together before a game]."

Scuffle with Shoaib

In the week before the Twenty20 world cup match in South Africa, Shoaib Akhtar was rumoured to have hit fellow Pakistani player Mohammad Asif with a bat, leaving a bruise on his left thigh. According to sources, the two were involved in a dressing room spat which resulted in Asif being struck by a bat on his left thigh. Sources said the fight between the two started after Asif and Shahid Afridi disagreed with Shoaib that he shared the same stature as Imran Khan in Pakistan cricket and even ridiculed him for making such a comparison. The injury was not thought to be anything more serious than a bruise but a team investigation into the matter was pending. After the initial inquiry, it would found that Shoaib was at fault and he was subsequently recalled from the Twenty20 World Cup squad and was sent home. He was also banned for 5 matches by the PCB and a lifetime ban may also seem imminent. Akhtar later claimed that Afridi was responsible for the fight, saying "He made some ill remarks about my family. And I could not tolerate them" Afridi however, denied these allegations adding that Asif would have suffered more injuries but for his intervention. Even Asif chipped in saying that Shoaib was lying and that "Shahid Afridi had nothing to do with the fight." saying that "he has not apologised to me. "

Drug Possesion

On June 3 2008, Asif was detained for drug possession, at the Dubai airport, in possession of hashish. He was detained at the airport at around 8 AM local time on Sunday while on his way to Lahore from Mumbai. He was returning home after the IPL league. Customs officials said that after his detention, he was handed over to the drugs unit of the Dubai police. Samples of his blood and urine have been taken for analysis.

External links

• Mohammed Asif - Cricinfo Player Profile
• MohammadAsif.com
• Unofficial Mohammad Asif Fansite