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Asif Ali can be to Pakistan what Jos Buttler is to England

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mak36 said:
The point about bumping this thread wasn't about this innings per se, but to make the point he is a potential match winner and needs to be invested in.

However, given you have raised it I should add some context to his innings. I watched the match live and you are right to say it was by no means a perfect innings. However, the innings was in two parts: he was comfortably batting at the RRR of around 10 an over but there was a threat of rain and his side were behind the DLS par score (due to how many wickets they had lost) so he had to bat even more aggressively than the RRR to keep up; that is when the mishits happened (as well as some very nice shots).

Before that he was batting with ease and for the most part he showed good batting intelligence and match awareness. Fact is he out-batted all the local batsmen and carried his side home- they were going nowhere until his innings.
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world cup captain said:
I thoroughly agree with you on this. Asif, like many hitters, needs time to get acclimatized to this level and he will come good. Players like him have the ability to take the game by the neck and win it for you. Hopefully, Mickey continues to back him.
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Agreed - folks shouldn't forget here he is one of our four best hitters against pace bowling along with Sharjeel, Fakhar and Umar (not to say I'm supporting his inclusion just yet). The rest can merely accumulate.

Asif needs time to adjust to international cricket. We shouldn't forget before Fakhar's heroics in the CT, he was being slated on here because he was struggling to adapt which can happen with such inexperience.

Fakhar
Imam (Ideally need Sharjeel or someone else more dynamic than him - wouldn't rule out U.Akmal if fit)
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
Asif Ali
Imad/Hafeez (If Professor is to play must bat at 7 but can come in at 6 if the team is in strife for e.g. 80/4)
Shadab
Hasan Ali
Shaheen
Amir
 
Plumb said:
The best hitter, so far scores in SA T20 League
80,22,11,9,0,4 :salute
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I was wondering why this thread wasn't bumped again when a T20 tournament is going on fast & bouncy SAF tracks ... got the answer, thanks.
 
Bump time - since his 80 in fast & bouncy SAF tracks without much spin, Asif Ali's scores are

80, 22, 11, 9, 0, 4, 2, 18, 4

However, indeed he had a Buttlerisque SR of 183.

I hope, he'll be taken to SAF for ODI/T20 leg where this experience should be handy.
 
MMHS said:
Bump time - since his 80 in fast & bouncy SAF tracks without much spin, Asif Ali's scores are

80, 22, 11, 9, 0, 4, 2, 18, 4

However, indeed he had a Buttlerisque SR of 183.

I hope, he'll be taken to SAF for ODI/T20 leg where this experience should be handy.
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Pakistani Buttler is getting ridiculed badly in South Africa .what kind of experience he got there ? I only see experience of getting out by domestic African bowlers for single digit score time and again .He does not deseve any chance in ODIs at all given his recent performances are extremely poor.T-20 should be his last chance .
 
Godhelpma said:
Pakistani Buttler is getting ridiculed badly in South Africa .what kind of experience he got there ? I only see experience of getting out by domestic African bowlers for single digit score time and again .He does not deseve any chance in ODIs at all given his recent performances are extremely poor.T-20 should be his last chance .
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What I have seen with Asif in almost every series that he starts decent to good, then teams analyze his game and thereafter he simply can't stay in middle for more than couple of overs may be. This tournament also, he probably has played the innings of the tournament, and after that haven't survived probably not even 10-12 balls in next 8 innings.

I don't think he has any future in WC with 9 confirmed games - by 3rd game he'll get exposed. Isn't required either, don't think ODI is a blind slogger's game, be it on 450 per tracks. What PAK needs is proper attacking batsmen in middle order who can play proper cricket shots to clear boundary and preferably against pacers, and I am afraid Imam, MoHa, Malik, Sarfraz, Asif are not those guys. If PAK really wants to make a fight in WC, it has to be Maqsood, Umar & Rizwan in middle order and may be Amin or Babar to open with Fakhar and Haris to bat at 3. There could be other issues, which can be fixed at least one can take a chance, but what can't be fixed is the gap in cricket skills of Umar Akmal & Sohaib Maqsood with the likes of Sarfraz, MoHa, Malik. The earlier PAK think tank realizes that, the better.

It's shameful that PAK's world-cup hope at No. 6 has come down from Asif Iqbal to Asif Ali.
 
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Asif Ali in last 10 T20 innings
97*, 4, 18, 2, 4, 0, 9, 11, 22, 80
Average: 27.44

He either adds little to none. Or wins you game. But taking 8-9 innings to score big is too much of a gamble. That's why in ODIs he'll never be successful batsman in middle-order
 
ARK Rafay said:
Asif Ali in last 10 T20 innings
97*, 4, 18, 2, 4, 0, 9, 11, 22, 80
Average: 27.44

He either adds little to none. Or wins you game. But taking 8-9 innings to score big is too much of a gamble. That's why in ODIs he'll never be successful batsman in middle-order
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he can add value to odi side if given a chance as an opener
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Superb innings from Asif Ali - 97 not out today for Islamabad Region versus Karachi Region Whites <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NationalT20Cup?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NationalT20Cup</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/sqRtLOkHU0">pic.twitter.com/sqRtLOkHU0</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1076060322212036608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
ARK Rafay said:
Asif Ali in last 10 T20 innings
97*, 4, 18, 2, 4, 0, 9, 11, 22, 80
Average: 27.44

He either adds little to none. Or wins you game. But taking 8-9 innings to score big is too much of a gamble. That's why in ODIs he'll never be successful batsman in middle-order
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Very good point. I wouldn't say to drop him from the Pakistan side yet though as he is new to international cricket but he needs to replicate domestic performances on the big stage.
 
Another innings which 'll lead our fans to believe that he 'll be the savior... He is still a hack and those spinners bowling freebies :salute

Couldn't do jack in SA league and back home milking the useless spinners ...great!!!!
 
Plumb said:
Another innings which 'll lead our fans to believe that he 'll be the savior... He is still a hack and those spinners bowling freebies :salute

Couldn't do jack in SA league and back home milking the useless spinners ...great!!!!
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Two months ago he was useless against spinners :13:
 
Surprised Asif Ali hits spin so well. Him holding back in international matches has cost Pakistan team.

They appear in domestics as though that they can hit any bowl outside the park and on the same deliveries in internationals they play like novices. There is a baraat of officials with them on tours. It really proves the staff is itself inept [Grant Flower like individuals] can't give confidence or remove the players mental block. Asif Ali or Faheem Ashraf don't need to improve on anything they are world-class anyway, they just need some psychological tuning.
 
Asif improving his game against spin is promising but the lack of consistency is worrying. Big hitting players can be in consistent but you need at least a quick 30 every game.
 
What I have seen, I don’t think he can be anywhere near Butler. He struggled big time and couldn’t rotate the strike, he has only one answer boom boom or dot. Imam ul Haq is class though.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Two months ago he was useless against spinners :13:
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:))

As I have repeated ad nauseum (and contrary to what a lot of posters are saying) Asif plays spin well; if people had actually followed his career they would know that. Just look at his thread from 2011 if you don't believe me! His issue in some of his previous outings has been the slowness of the UAE pitches NOT spin per se.
 
He just loves a chase.

Another sterling effort in a must win chase, scoring 33* from a mere fifteen balls. He has single handedly dragged Islamabad into the semi finals and that is no exaggeration.

47 was needed off approximately eight overs when Asif came in. It was a difficult track and could have been a difficult chase. Asif made sure it wasn't.
 
What was OP thinking? Jos Buttler can play 360 degrees versus pace and spin. Also he can rebuild an innings. Asif Ali has shown no ability to rebuild an innings in 50 over cricket and has shown no ability to finish the innings.

Where did this comparison even come from ?

Asif Ali can be a decent LO player but I'm sorry he can't play the role Jos Buttler does.
 
This guy is not good enough for international cricket. But he is vital for a team like Pakistan. He can hit the ball cleanly. But we can't expect too much from him as he lacks game awareness.
 
Every time I watch him play, his embarrassing F/C and List A averages make more and more sense. He has zero batting intelligence and game awareness, and at 27, he is not going to learn the basics of cricket.

He represents everything that is wrong with Pakistan domestic cricket - hopefully this will be his last series in international cricket. A completely failed investment.
 
Graem Smith: "If Pakistan Cricket team wants to perform well in the World Cup, they need to have couple of big hitters in their lower order who can score 30-40 quick runs against top quality bowlers. Your bowlers regardless how good they are can't restrict opposition to less than 200 runs in every match."

Currently they have too many one dimensional batsman who score at a strike rate between 70 to 80 which is way below in comparison to top sides like India, England and New Zealand. Guys like Shadab, Sarfraz, Malik can be good if they are required to score at 6-7 runs per over but they won't win you games when they are asked to score 10-11 runs per over. I was surprised when Pakistan dropped Asif Ali for the ODI series on the basis of his UAE performance. He played well in Mzansi Super League and usually plays fast bowling very well. He can be utilized in the lower order along with Hafeez who is a very good timer and can hit boundaries at will. I don't know where Umar Akmal went but he is certainly someone who can win you games."

There's some1 who understands what we need!!

Asif hafeez finishing the innings off rather than sarfaraz shadab!
We have some1 who can hit sides but we would rather play an accumulator at the finishing overs
 
Am getting fed up of Asif Ali - all we see with him is a 15 off 6 balls or a 10 off 4 balls and that is as far as it gos. Graeme Smith has mentioned someone who can hit a game changing 30-40 against pacers but he can’t even make it to that. Even the guys that can hit you never have the confidence they can sustain it for long. You literally be waiting for the ball they will get out on. Nobody has stepped into Razzaq’s shoes who u have confidence in that they will finish the innings and can sustain the onslaught at the end. Asif Ali is a joke. He is a poor mans Keiron Pollard and given how rubbish Pollard is, that is saying something.
 
Keep the faith. Should’ve played ODI series. Needs to play all 10 ODIs and 2 warmups before World Cup
 
Keep the faith with what? He hasn’t shown anything positive to keep the faith with. His job is to finish innings he hasn’t done it even once batting first or chasing.
 
He is a very good player, a proper batsman with years of FC cricket experience. He is not a pinch hitter and that's effecting his performance. Its wrong to use him as a pinch hitter. He should be sent at number 3 or 4 in ODI or T20 and give him some time to settle down.
 
Osman said:
Keep the faith with what? He hasn’t shown anything positive to keep the faith with. His job is to finish innings he hasn’t done it even once batting first or chasing.
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Let him bat time and not just be used as a slogger. We need him due to the monotony in the middle order. The guy has barely played any international cricket! Give him 10 ODIs and 2 warmups before World Cup...he will benefit from continuity of selection. He should’ve played ODI series in sa
 
brainless slogger better find someone who can hit and rotate the strike as well and play equally better against pace and spin bowling he is a dud against spin
 
I am normally patients with players but I have seen enough of his batting to conclude that he will fail a lot more than pay off. A batsman with same temperament as Fahim.
 
A Talat with Faheem's bowling and Asif's hitting is a Stokes. So who's valuable here, Talat, Faheem or Asif? Because only one of them has a spot at this point in ODIs. Who can be developed and what does the team require?
 
Asif seems to be a poor mans afridi
And at least with afridi he use to come off every now n then plus he could bowl

Batting at 5-6 You cant be a one trick pony who plays high risk slogs to the legside all the time Youve got to be able to pick deliveries and areas to score

Asif however has shown no ability so far to build an innings, to score on the off side or to score quickly along the ground
 
Zaz said:
Asif seems to be a poor mans afridi
And at least with afridi he use to come off every now n then plus he could bowl

Batting at 5-6 You cant be a one trick pony who plays high risk slogs to the legside all the time Youve got to be able to pick deliveries and areas to score

Asif however has shown no ability so far to build an innings, to score on the off side or to score quickly along the ground
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Afridi had elite power and hand eye coordination which gave him great timing. He just had very poor shot selection.

Asif has neither the power nor the timing Afridi had. He should never have been selected at this level, club level player. It's a travesty he's still being selected
 
Next match line up should be,

01. Mohammad Rizwan
02. Babar Azam
03. Hussain Talat
04. Mohammad Hafeez
05. Shoaib Malik
06. Asif Ali
07. Imad Wasim
08. Hasan Ali
09. Shadab khan
10. Shaheen Afridi
11. Usman Shinwari
 
Umar Akmal has performed better than him. They are par as far as batting intelligence is concerned.
 
One of the worst batsmen to have played for Pakistan. Giving national cap to someone like him is making mockery of Pakistan cricket.

He is in no shape or form capable of playing the game at the highest level.
 
He has shown promise in T20s like in the tri series Vs Australia but should be nowhere near the ODI team.
 
Not good enough for international level. Despite a solid PSL performance, his domestic stats were mediocre so its not a great suprise he has failed.
 
I would take him and faheem to the world cup.
You need hitters. They haven't done great, but little point in having sarfaraz and shadab come in after 40 overs.
You have to have hitters and we need these 2 and Imad to step up with hafeez.

They need to be given maximum chances in upcoming games.
Hopefully our top 3 can fire us to the semis and then it's a case of a couple of good days
 
I still think he deserves more chances because of the scarcity in hitting resources. Other than him the only other hitter in Pakistan cricket is Imad Wasim.

After all I expect him to fire in PSL and he'll be recalled again in ODIs, so expect to be back to square one.

He is a gifted striker who needs to develop the art of building an innings. The likes of Malik, Shadab and Faheem are far worse lower down the order who are all inept against pace (let alone capable of scoring against a decent pace attack).

I hope there will be a new kid who can strike the ball lower down the order to stake a claim in the WC side.
 
Mamoon said:
One of the worst batsmen to have played for Pakistan. Giving national cap to someone like him is making mockery of Pakistan cricket.

He is in no shape or form capable of playing the game at the highest level.
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Have to agree here. No words can even describe how truly awful this guy is. How he is even playing top level cricket is beyond any kind of understanding. Today he was caught off a no ball and fate gave him the chance to be a hero and provide the finishing to the innings that we are so desperately seeking. Even so u just knew his wicket was coming within a few balls. No matter how good of a domestic season he has anywhere in the world he should never be picked again. Definitely in the top 5 if not top 3 worst players to wear the green shirt.
 
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If Asif Ali can play as a specialist batsman in LOIs, then Umar Akmal absolutely positively must replace him because he is 10 times the batsman Asif will ever be.
 
Saw him first time today in highlights package. Didn't inspire any confidence or positivity.
Babar Azam and Talat had put game on table for rest of line up. But they faltered on average bowling line up on a good wicket.
 
Mamoon said:
One of the worst batsmen to have played for Pakistan. Giving national cap to someone like him is making mockery of Pakistan cricket.

He is in no shape or form capable of playing the game at the highest level.
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I hate to say this but keeping the Akmal brothers out due to form and fitness issues seems a travesty when you see this guy occupying a spot in the xi. I would have bet my money we would have won both the first and second t20i if he had one of the brothers In place of this guy.
 
Our fans have a habbit of hyping any gully mohalla cricketer. Next Gary sobers, Viv Richard and Wasim. Going by the number of threads like this, we should have been a superpower cricket team by now.
 
If you’re playing Faheem Imad And Shadab then why not bring Asif up the order? I feel he can excel if he’s given the opportunity.

Fakhar
Asif
Babar
Hafeez
Malik
Sarfraz
Imad
Faheem
Shadab
Hassan
Shaheen
 
He needs to be given more chances, it’s not as if we have Viv Richards waiting non the wings. He is a very good batsman and more than just a mere a slogger. He needs to be sent at #5 ahead of Malik who can be our finisher. Asif, once set, can be pretty devastating!
 
Shandarchowka said:
He needs to be given more chances, it’s not as if we have Viv Richards waiting non the wings. He is a very good batsman and more than just a mere a slogger. He needs to be sent at #5 ahead of Malik who can be our finisher. Asif, once set, can be pretty devastating!
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He has got plenty of chances. Shows 0 batting intelligence it won't matter if you give him 10 chances or 100. He won't be able to become what Pakistan is looking for. Batting intelligence dosen't come by giving chances
 
Asif Ali = buttler
Baba = kohli
Shadab = steve smith
Faheem = klusner

Yet these fake warriors have failed to chase an equasion of 50 runs with plenty of wckts in hand (yesterday & the test match v NZ in uae)

in the overated psl when they hit a few sixes they're going to be the buttlers of this world again but failiures at international level.
 
I'm shocked that someone with his capabilities was even given an international cap. What an absolutely horrible player.
 
His problem is he lacks game awareness. He has the shots, but he should know where fielders are placed. If you keep playing the ball to the lonely fielder near the ropes then something is seriously wrong with your game. Same goes for Faheem Afraf.
 
Haroon786 said:
If Asif Ali can play as a specialist batsman in LOIs, then Umar Akmal absolutely positively must replace him because he is 10 times the batsman Asif will ever be.
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Pakistan really don't need to go back to that brainless Akmal idiot either. Hopefully something good can come out of PSL.
 
Asif not even fit to be Buttler's buttler, kya keh rahay ho larkay.
 
Something said:
I'm shocked that someone with his capabilities was even given an international cap. What an absolutely horrible player.
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This is what happens when the chief selector only sits up and does his job during the PSL. He did not look at past record or even his technique, just the three sixes Asif hit off Hasan and thereafter Asif has been a part of the team.



Inzi's fans do not like it but Inzi is almost as bad as Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rashid type people as chief selector. He has the benefit of the PSL that has thrown up some new talent like Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar. Otherwise Inzi would be selecting folks like Shehzad and Rahat Ali.
 
Somebody called him a poor man's Razzak in the match thread yesterday which was an insult to poor man's Razzak.

This guy's batting is even more brainless than that of Afridi and thats saying something. An incredibly inept batsman whose domestic averages are as follows:
LA - 24
T20 - 15

How on earth can you expect a player like this to succeed in the international arena where teams analyse you so minutely that they even know the colour of your favourite underwear? Just select a specialist batsman in his place who has the muscle to hit sixes and fours. Even if he averages 35 in LA and 25 in T20, it will be a massive upgrade.

And people call him Butler. He isnt fit to be Butler's butler.
 
probably the most useless cricketer to play for Pakistan in the last 10 years

doesn't bowl, below average fielder, not a proper batsmen. He's a hitter who can't hit
 
Not good enough unfortunetly! Doesnt know where the gap is and not good enough to clear the ropes at will.
 
Syed1 said:
This is what happens when the chief selector only sits up and does his job during the PSL. He did not look at past record or even his technique, just the three sixes Asif hit off Hasan and thereafter Asif has been a part of the team.



Inzi's fans do not like it but Inzi is almost as bad as Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rashid type people as chief selector. He has the benefit of the PSL that has thrown up some new talent like Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar. Otherwise Inzi would be selecting folks like Shehzad and Rahat Ali.
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If inzi was doing his job properly he would have gotten rid of Sarfraz by now.
 
Syed1 said:
This is what happens when the chief selector only sits up and does his job during the PSL. He did not look at past record or even his technique, just the three sixes Asif hit off Hasan and thereafter Asif has been a part of the team.



Inzi's fans do not like it but Inzi is almost as bad as Iqbal Qasim, Haroon Rashid type people as chief selector. He has the benefit of the PSL that has thrown up some new talent like Hasan, Shadab, Fakhar. Otherwise Inzi would be selecting folks like Shehzad and Rahat Ali.
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Truth be told Inzi is a horrible selector with absolutely no eye for talent. Most of the players that have come through PSL are utter garbage. If, as a selector, you are not able to identify the diamond in the rough then you are not doing your job correctly or are not qualified to do this job
 
DzZX7TDX4AE74Z0.jpg
 
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topspin said:
Haters got humbled today.
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I would not classify myself a hater - in fact I'm quite happy to have Asif in the national squad until ot unless someone better comes along - however, until Asif performs for Pakistan (not just for Islamabad) no body is getting humbled.

Players who have not been given an international opportunity can "humble their haters" by performing in PSL. However, if you've been given an opportunity in international cricket and you want to "humble your haters" you have to perform in international cricket.

A good performance in the PSL will help him retain his place in the international team - particularly if he out performs the other lower-order/big-hitting batsmen. However, the only way to "humble his haters" will be to perform for Pakistan.
 
TalhaSyed said:
I would not classify myself a hater - in fact I'm quite happy to have Asif in the national squad until ot unless someone better comes along - however, until Asif performs for Pakistan (not just for Islamabad) no body is getting humbled.

Players who have not been given an international opportunity can "humble their haters" by performing in PSL. However, if you've been given an opportunity in international cricket and you want to "humble your haters" you have to perform in international cricket.

A good performance in the PSL will help him retain his place in the international team - particularly if he out performs the other lower-order/big-hitting batsmen. However, the only way to "humble his haters" will be to perform for Pakistan.
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I acknowledge he's woeful in LOIs of late but when you have a hitter with his skill set and destructive ability who happens to be the best in the country you don't just toss them away like rotten goods.

Fans need to be patient with him, he will need a long rope but lets hope iA he will be ready in time for the WC.

Dropping him against SA was counterproductive because he was always going to shine in this tournament. After he was dropped from the ODI squad, I said it then it was a poor decision because he will make a name for himself yet again in PSL and inevitably force his way back into the side.
 
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