Throughout their cricket history, Pakistan have enjoyed an incredible fast bowling strength. While the duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis ruled the roost in the 1990s, speedster Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, and Mohammad Asif among others emerged in the early 2000s and enjoyed significant success in the international cricket. Currently, Pakistan boast of one of the leading fast bowlers in the world in Shaheen Afridi.
In 2010, however, a match-fixing scandal struck Pakistan cricket which brought the downfall of two of the side’s leading pacers at the time; Asif and Mohammad Amir. While the latter later returned to international cricket, Asif’s career ended after the fixing scandal. Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram opened up on the incident during a YouTube show, insisting that Asif “wasted” his talent.
“Yeah, everyone raved about Mohammad Asif. Talent wasted, no doubt,” Akram said on ‘To Be Honest’ on YouTube channel ‘Nashpati Prime’.
“But whoever I talked to, everyone said that they had seen such a bowler after decades. The way he controlled the ball, the way he managed to swing the ball both ways.. it’s very unfortunate for him and for Pakistan too.”
Akram further said that he hadn’t met Mohammad Asif for a long time, and even if he meets him, he wouldn’t be angry at him anymore.
“I haven’t seen him for ages. I have been living in Karachi for 10 years now, I rarely go to Lahore. He was a kid. Mistakes happen,” said the Pakistan legend, who took 414 wickets in Tests, and 502 wickets in the fifty-over format for the side.
Asif, meanwhile, represented Pakistan between 2005-2010, appearing in 23 Tests, 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is for the side. The right-arm pacer had 106 wickets in the longest format of the game, 46 in ODIs and 13 in T20Is.