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Do we realise what a potential gem we have found in Asif Ali?

Titan24

Senior Test Player
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Yes his first class record is not amazing rather its poor. It takes some of the players time to realize what are their strenghths and how can they create an impact to make their team win matches.

He has realized that, not only his PSL impact but after that even in the domestic ODI tournument he was amazing. He now knows what are his strengths and what is his role which he can play.

How is he a gem? In Pakistan cricket team's scenario I will stretch my neck out a bit and say he can be diamond for us. The reason I am saying that since last 10-15 years we haven't had a finisher in our team, Razzaq was the closest one we have. We were playing world cup 2015 with Afridi playing at 5 down and was supposed to finish matches for us. Finishing matches is not about hitting couple if sixes, it requires game sense, match awareness and realizing how much risk is needed to be taken at each stage of the game. I think Asif Ali has got these attributes, some of them might need bit of polishing, but if he spends an year in Pak team he will surely gonna be polished.

He is a gem for the cricketing world as he is one of the cleanest striker of a cricket ball I have seen in recent times not only a striker but knows how to settle himself in and when to take the risk. He surely needs to work hard and improve his range of strokes but, he is a modern day cricketer and one to look out for. He can change the dimension of a limited overs game in few balls.

There might be matches he wont score much but its about realizing what he can do then what he cant. I know Mickey, Inzi and Sarfaraz has picked him for future and he is not gonna be discarded anytime soon unless there is an extreme situation. :ssa
 
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Just about decent enough in T20 nothing else.

I think he has a lot more to him then we realize. Someone must have seen something which I can see that is why he is in the ODI squad as well just after the WI T20s.
 
Has been selected in ODI squad and Zimbabwe playing depleted team he should perform well and settle himself in LOI teams
 
I don't want to be negative, but this guy is a complete slogger, and we saw how out of his depth he looked in the final. That was ridiculous, he kept playing the same shot to every ball, until he got one that was in the perfect zone for the shot
 
What has he exactly done to be to hype so much .lets wait and see how he perform after playing decent amount of international cricket .

I am also excited about his talent but we should be patient and don.t hype him too soon
 
Lol, people are still trying to write him off.

Regarding first class cricket, it's worth remembering his FC stats are misleading in that before the 2017/2018 season, he hadn't played FC since 2014. At the time I mentioned how he was showing signs of improvement in the longer format. For context, he ended up averaging 31 @ 59 in the most QeA trophy:

It's remarkable he hasn't played FC since 2014.

Scored a century in Round 1 vs National Bank.

Scored 48 and 61 in Round 3 vs SNGPL.

Seems to be carrying the weight of Faialabad's batting on his shoulders and deserves praise, especially given he was typecast as a t20 specialist.

He is showing signs of consistency this year which can only be good.

Hopefully he shines for IU in PSL.

He did brilliantly in the T20 Cup just before PSL3 and was one of the best batsmen in the One Day Cup tournament that was held after PSL3.

As long as he continues working on constructing an innings etc. everything else will fall into place and he will only get better. The impression I have is he has a Fakhar-like determination/commitment which is a good sign.
 
He did well in the Pakistan Cup.Hopefully he also does well in the Zimbabwe ODI's and cements his place in the side.
 
He is good but hold your horses. I still remember we made Nasir Jamshed second coming of Saeed Anwar when he was smashing Indian trundlers like no tomorrow in Aane Do series.
 
I am also very excited about him but let’s see what he needs to put away is a slog just when he comes in after few balls he looks much better
 
The guy has not scored a 50 in international cricket and he's already a gem?

I said potential gem.

Whats the fun in praising somebody when he scores a 50 or 100, fun is in realizing a talent somebody possess.

To me talent is not just playing couple of good strokes. To me talent is a combination ability, temperament, attitude and match awareness.

I am not saying he is gonna retire as a cricketing legend, that only time can tell. If you are expecting him to score 100s like Babar or Saeed Anwar, than you are wrong, he isnt that type of player. Even Dhoni has just 10 100s in ODIs bcz of the position he bats in.

Asif is someone who can change the game in the later part as lower order batsman or as an opener if experimented but I like him in lower order. I am excited about the attributes he has shown till now.

Till now he has shown:

1) He doesnt take pressure of the match or the opposition (A big plus in modern day cricket)
2) He realizes that he needs to set himself by playing few balls, obviously he isnt gonna do that when there are 3 balls remaining.
3) He is sensible (Unlike many who played for us) enough to understand the game situation and what is required of him
4) Pace or spin both doesnt bother his style of play
5) Looks a decent fielder and someone who is ready to work hard and improve as a player
 
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The thing which I like about our current young lot i.e Shadab, Fakhar, Faheem, Hassan etc is that they all are honest, dedicated, passionate and hard working cricketers who wear heart on their sleeves and Asif Ali is a good induction within the team environment.
 
Looks the clean hitter we have been crying out for.

However the test starts now as teams will make plans against him - hopefully he goes down the same path as Fakhar who's continually improved since his debut.
 
Lol, people are still trying to write him off.

Regarding first class cricket, it's worth remembering his FC stats are misleading in that before the 2017/2018 season, he hadn't played FC since 2014. At the time I mentioned how he was showing signs of improvement in the longer format. For context, he ended up averaging 31 @ 59 in the most QeA trophy:



He did brilliantly in the T20 Cup just before PSL3 and was one of the best batsmen in the One Day Cup tournament that was held after PSL3.

As long as he continues working on constructing an innings etc. everything else will fall into place and he will only get better. The impression I have is he has a Fakhar-like determination/commitment which is a good sign.

Exactly you are spot on. Its that Fakhar like determination which makes me believe in him.
 
Looks the clean hitter we have been crying out for.

However the test starts now as teams will make plans against him - hopefully he goes down the same path as Fakhar who's continually improved since his debut.

He comes across as someone who has Fakhar's temperment/work ethic which is a good sign.
 
There are not many like Asif Ali in the back up at the moment so he is gonna get a long run I guess
 
Exactly you are spot on. Its that Fakhar like determination which makes me believe in him.

Plus if you look at his recent domestic stats, he has actually been pretty consistent.

Being selected for IT20s proved a big motivating factor for him, and he used the One Day Cup to force his way into the ODI squad. That's what I like to see from a player.

It's amazing what merit based selection does for a player's confidence...
 
Well numbers speak larger than these threads..

As i have maintained on Haris Sohail who besides scoring a few cute 30’s, has done nothing notable.

Same goes with Asif Ali. I will only believe in him when i see the results. As far as talent is concerned, if Umar Akmal has it. Time will tell.
 
I said potential gem.

Whats the fun in praising somebody when he scores a 50 or 100, fun is in realizing a talent somebody possess.

To me talent is not just playing couple of good strokes. To me talent is a combination ability, temperament, attitude and match awareness.

I am not saying he is gonna retire as a cricketing legend, that only time can tell. If you are expecting him to score 100s like Babar or Saeed Anwar, than you are wrong, he isnt that type of player. Even Dhoni has just 10 100s in ODIs bcz of the position he bats in.

Asif is someone who can change the game in the later part as lower order batsman or as an opener if experimented but I like him in lower order. I am excited about the attributes he has shown till now.

Till now he has shown:

1) He doesnt take pressure of the match or the opposition (A big plus in modern day cricket)
2) He realizes that he needs to set himself by playing few balls, obviously he isnt gonna do that when there are 3 balls remaining.
3) He is sensible (Unlike many who played for us) enough to understand the game situation and what is required of him
4) Pace or spin both doesnt bother his style of play
5) Looks a decent fielder and someone who is ready to work hard and improve as a player

All of your points are make-believe. He has not played a single ODI. He is totally unproven at this stage. Specially, the last point is completely wrong, he is a terrible fielder.
 
It depends on if he performs in the ODI series. He has been a great addition in T20s but if ODi will be a different story. He could come in within the first 10 overs in which he will need to adapt to the situation or come in at the last 10 overs do what he does and smash as much as he can.
 
It depends on if he performs in the ODI series. He has been a great addition in T20s but if ODi will be a different story. He could come in within the first 10 overs in which he will need to adapt to the situation or come in at the last 10 overs do what he does and smash as much as he can.

Yes but batting order can be shuffled, Shadab can bat at 4 down if we lose early wickets and Asif can go down to 5 down. If that also comes within first 10 overs than we are in deep trouble and Asif Ali's style of play can also be suited as counter attack during that situation.

He isnt a hack as many believe him to be the guy has recently scored 100s in domestic one day tournament.

Many associated hack term with Fakhar as well.
 
All of your points are make-believe. He has not played a single ODI. He is totally unproven at this stage. Specially, the last point is completely wrong, he is a terrible fielder.

Yes I can not predict the future I can only forecast on the basis of what I have seen in Asif Ali. Yes he dropped a catch or two but he isnt a bad fielder as he has taken some pretty good catches in PSL and in short international career. He is still new, with each match he is gonna improve as a player as he will feel like that he belongs to that level.
 
Yes but batting order can be shuffled, Shadab can bat at 4 down if we lose early wickets and Asif can go down to 5 down. If that also comes within first 10 overs than we are in deep trouble and Asif Ali's style of play can also be suited as counter attack during that situation.

He isnt a hack as many believe him to be the guy has recently scored 100s in domestic one day tournament.

Many associated hack term with Fakhar as well.

I don't think he is a hack I just think its important we see how he plays this series. He has proven to be a solid hitter in our T20 line-up so it will be interesting to see how he does in ODI format.
 
He can be a good player. He should play ODIs to develop his game further. He has the power but cricket isn't all about 4s and 6s. He needs to learn about strike rotation and building an innings. This can only be done by time in the middle.
 
He can be a good player. He should play ODIs to develop his game further. He has the power but cricket isn't all about 4s and 6s. He needs to learn about strike rotation and building an innings. This can only be done by time in the middle.

Showed he had made big strides in this regard in the recent One Day Cup. Promising signs.
 
Showed he had made big strides in this regard in the recent One Day Cup. Promising signs.

Fair enough. He needs to show at international level. I would bat him at 4 or 5 in the ODIs against Zimbabwe so he gets a proper chance. We already know he can hit big . Batting him at 6 for this series is a waste of time.
 
He has the potential. One thing which I have noticed is that he is quite comfortable against spin. It seems like finally, we have found a decent finisher.
 
we have been missing a player who can score 30 off 12 balls, this can make a big difference for PAK team especially with our bowling.
 
Fakhar
Hafeez
Babar
Malik
Sarfraz
Asif Ali
Shadab
Faheem
Hasan
Amir
Junaid

If we were to replace Hafeez with Haris this would actually be a pretty good team. I don't think it's a bad idea to have Haris open as he is good against fast bowlers and the white ball doesn't really move anyways.
 
So far I have been pleasantly surprised by Asif Ali, let's hope he can become the finisher we need in ODIs. Imagine him and faheem going off on the last 10 overs.
 
He might just be a gem but he has to prove it against good bowling attacks. But the good thing is he is the right sort of players. Hopefully some more players of the sort come along.
 
I am already picturing him laying into the so called ATG death bowlers Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar.
 
I am already picturing him laying into the so called ATG death bowlers Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar.
Lets be real we will measure him against quality fast bowlers like Starc. Not the ones u just mentioned.
 
Lets be real we will measure him against quality fast bowlers like Starc. Not the ones u just mentioned.

I think Asif might not even play against Starc during the one match he plays in a year
 
If he can hit 3 sixes to Hassan Ali then he can hit it to anybody 😜

On a serious note he did play Jhye Richardson, Tye and Stanklake pretty well. They might not be the best around but surely pace doesnt bother him at all neither short balls or balls outside and he is equally good against spin.
 
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