Mohammad Abbas vs Mohammad Asif - Who's better in Test Cricket?

[RidiculousMan]

Both bowled at rather brisk pace and trouble batters with their seam.

M Abbas now has 100 wickets which is almost the same as Asif's 106 wickets.

As of today here's Abbas record;


Here's Asif's record;


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As you can see both have similar record.

Abbas has better record in England and Pakistan. In fact Abbas averages 23.55 in Pakistan while Asif averages 42.30.

In New Zealand and South Africa Asif has a better record.

We can't do Australia comparison because Abbas only played just 1 game which is not enough of a sample size.

In FC Cricket Abbas is above Asif. Abbas has 839 at an average of 20. While Asif has 441 at an average of 23.

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Does this show the double standards? People get reminiscent and nostalgic over Asif when in fact that stats indicate that we may very well have a guy of his caliber or even better than him at home. Who has a phenomenal record in Pakistan and English conditions.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Both bowled at rather brisk pace and trouble batters with their seam.

M Abbas now has 100 wickets which is almost the same as Asif's 106 wickets.

As of today here's Abbas record;View attachment 159523


Here's Asif's record;
View attachment 159524

-----

As you can see both have similar record.

Abbas has better record in England and Pakistan. In fact Abbas averages 23.55 in Pakistan while Asif averages 42.30.

In New Zealand and South Africa Asif has a better record.

We can't do Australia comparison because Abbas only played just 1 game which is not enough of a sample size.

In FC Cricket Abbas is above Asif. Abbas has 839 at an average of 20. While Asif has 441 at an average of 23.

-----

Does this show the double standards? People get reminiscent and nostalgic over Asif when in fact that stats indicate that we may very well have a guy of his caliber or even better than him at home. Who has a phenomenal record in Pakistan and English conditions.

We don't get nostalgic over Asifs stats despite them being very good.

We get nostalgic over the lazy elegance, the control over the bam, the way he set batsmen up, the way he has fast bowler mentality despite not being too fast.

 

[sithb]

Asif.

No other answer.

 

[Extra_Cover]

Mohammad Asif is a superior bowler to Abbas and there is not much doubt in that. The number of times Asif has clean bowled top / world class batters in international cricket speak volumes as to how he is able to infiltrate the defense of best in the business.

If you need to understand this just think of any top level batter in international cricket and try to recollect or search as to how many times they have been clean bowled in international cricket. I'm not talking about drag ons or where the batter is slogging out. I'm talking about orthodox cricket and best batters of the world getting cleaned through their defenses. This doesn't happen often its quite rare and Asif has repeated this feat with multiple world class batters from across different countries. This qualitative factor alone in my opinion pushes Asif well beyond the stats. Together with this testimonies of those who faced him speak volumes too.

As far as Abbas is concerned he is an inspiration as well. He is what we call in orthodox cricket a workhorse. The guy carries on tirelessly for hours. He is not as gifted as Asif but he is way more disciplined, focused and mature when it comes to Asif. Will he be able to win a match off his own maybe not.

Asif is the lead character, Abbas is a very able supporting actor.

 

[hafizexpress]

One of those comparisons that proves that stats isn't everything.


To this day, elite batsmen rave about Asif's bowling despite the short period of time that he was around. He traumatized the likes of KP, ABD, Amla etc. to the point that they still think about his skills. The things he did with that ball were nothing short of majestic. If he played for another 10-12 years, we'd be comparing him to all time greats and he'd certainly have been on Pakistan's list.

 

[Local.Dada]

Md Abbas. Always respect a cricketer who goes about his business playing day in and day out, has passion for the game and keeps himself fit and ready. On top of that stats to boot.

Asif was a very talented bowler but we romanticize the “bad boys” as cool etc. I think his notoriety makes him a lot more celebrated.

You are mentoring a kid who say doesn’t have pace and has seam and swing skills, hands down Abbas is the role model he should follow.

 

[charlie007]

To begin with, they are/were both wonderful bowlers who relied on skill and control to get wickets. It is a shame we were deprived of Asif’s career at the time when he would have blossomed into a top notch bowler.
Asif had a greater ceiling (which we never saw) based on the impact that he had. Abbas has a great consistency and is a reliable and skillful bowler who has done tremendously well on slower wickets compared to Asif. However, Asif has done quite well in all conditions and was more impactful as his higher number of 5 wicket haul suggests. Asif also has a better strike rate.

Because Asif had a curtailed career we are debating this, otherwise Asif could have been clearly better. But even with close comparison as it stands, Asif edges out Abbas in my opinion.

 

[Rana]

Asif was a 400+ Test wicket bowler.

What a waste!

 

[Major]

Asif was a 400+ Test wicket bowler.

What a waste!

He wasnt.
Asif was above 30 in real age, and his drug habit had destroyed him internally. Plus, with Pakistan going the UAE route, there was no way he him and amir would had played together.

In uae only 2 pacers would had worked, where someone like Wahab would had been chosen for his pace and reverse swing effect, and another bowler would had been there for support.

@DeadlyVenom pointed out i think (correct me if im wrong DV), but he said that Asif was having a purple patch.

Based on the short career Asif had, he bowled well, but he has been quite over rated by alot of people here. Abbas with better fitness couldnt last in test cricket, than how would Asif had lasted.

Abbad and Asif were similar, with Asif having slight higher bounce due to his height

 

[Major]

Mohammad Asif is a superior bowler to Abbas and there is not much doubt in that. The number of times Asif has clean bowled top / world class batters in international cricket speak volumes as to how he is able to infiltrate the defense of best in the business.

If you need to understand this just think of any top level batter in international cricket and try to recollect or search as to how many times they have been clean bowled in international cricket. I'm not talking about drag ons or where the batter is slogging out. I'm talking about orthodox cricket and best batters of the world getting cleaned through their defenses. This doesn't happen often its quite rare and Asif has repeated this feat with multiple world class batters from across different countries. This qualitative factor alone in my opinion pushes Asif well beyond the stats. Together with this testimonies of those who faced him speak volumes too.

As far as Abbas is concerned he is an inspiration as well. He is what we call in orthodox cricket a workhorse. The guy carries on tirelessly for hours. He is not as gifted as Asif but he is way more disciplined, focused and mature when it comes to Asif. Will he be able to win a match off his own maybe not.

Asif is the lead character, Abbas is a very able supporting actor.

But we also need to agree that if we didnt see Asifs ceiling, we also didnt see his floor aswell.

Its just like, if Babar had gotten a ban in 2019 and we would had assumed based on the pre 2019 stats that Babar was on track to become an ATG

 

[BreadPakoda]

Asif.

Abbas was dropped from a bowling line up that was already struggling. Pak’s current line up is better.

 

[Extra_Cover]

But we also need to agree that if we didnt see Asifs ceiling, we also didnt see his floor aswell.

Its just like, if Babar had gotten a ban in 2019 and we would had assumed based on the pre 2019 stats that Babar was on track to become an ATG

I agree with you. My post was not based around stats or what Asif would have achieved. Look at Shoaib Akhtar, on stats alone he would pass through as just another above average player but people who watched him literally know the match winning capability he carried. His secondary attributes were being an entertainer, crowd puller, controversies, etc but his primary attribute was being the fastest bowler ever with amazing match winning abilities that is not captured through stats.

I can tell you with confidence that had Asif had a full career he would not have been anywhere near ATG test bowlers. The reason is simple you need natural talent + hardwork / discipline to be an ATG test bowler. Asif was immensely talented and glimpses of what we saw we already know that he could make any world class batter look like an amateur in test arena. Having said that we also know Asif was not a very disciplined individual. He would have likely remained unfit for most part of his career as he was not a fitness enthusiast. He also would have been involved in off field controversies that would have curtailed his career. And largely he would have eventually lost interest with game over the period of time, this is a common theme for any cricketer coming from a small background their hunger and ambition is to represent Pakistan but their ambition never evolves once they start playing for Pakistan. A cricketer from poor background will never evolve or compete to be the best in the world they would always remain satisfied that they are playing for Pakistan hence their ambitions are met. Once you don't have ambitions it automatically results in your decline which is natural.

The reason Pakistan under Imran Khan time was being the best in the world because literally that was the time they had the ambition to be best in the world. This ambition was carried until 90s after which cricketers with this ambition retired and new inductees were simply happy to play for Pakistan and less be concerned with competing with the world. At the moment none of our cricketers would bat an eye if we are defeated 3/3 times by India in Asia Cup because we have already surrendered to the fact that we are a lesser team compared to India and primarily happy to simply represent Pakistan.

Back to topic had Asif had a full career his career stats would have been impressive but no where near ATG status. However like Shoaib, Asif would have given many more moments to cherish from true cricket point of view with the natural magic he possessed.

 

[Ryw]

On a dead Karachi pitch or a green English one , Asif will still make the ball talk.

 

[CricVet]

I did no even read anything above - give me Asif over ANY other SEAM bowler any day of the week. The guy self-destructed himself from being one of the ALL-TIME great. Abbas is good, but lacks bounce and pace vs Asif.

 

[sweep_shot]

Asif wins by a country mile. He was a big match player. Check Karachi 2006 Test.

 

[Local.Dada]

Asif was a 400+ Test wicket bowler.

What a waste!

Ajantha Mendis would have been a 800+ test wicket bowler if he quit in 2008 as well.

 

[shamaan]

Asif was a wizard.

 

[Ryw]

One of those comparisons that proves that stats isn't everything.


To this day, elite batsmen rave about Asif's bowling despite the short period of time that he was around. He traumatized the likes of KP, ABD, Amla etc. to the point that they still think about his skills. The things he did with that ball were nothing short of majestic. If he played for another 10-12 years, we'd be comparing him to all time greats and he'd certainly have been on Pakistan's list.

His good ball takes the edge. His great ball takes the off stump.

Batsmen know what’s coming. They still can’t stop it.

 

[Abid Z]

Both bowled at rather brisk pace and trouble batters with their seam.

M Abbas now has 100 wickets which is almost the same as Asif's 106 wickets.

As of today here's Abbas record;View attachment 159523


Here's Asif's record;
View attachment 159524

-----

As you can see both have similar record.

Abbas has better record in England and Pakistan. In fact Abbas averages 23.55 in Pakistan while Asif averages 42.30.

In New Zealand and South Africa Asif has a better record.

We can't do Australia comparison because Abbas only played just 1 game which is not enough of a sample size.

In FC Cricket Abbas is above Asif. Abbas has 839 at an average of 20. While Asif has 441 at an average of 23.

-----

Does this show the double standards? People get reminiscent and nostalgic over Asif when in fact that stats indicate that we may very well have a guy of his caliber or even better than him at home. Who has a phenomenal record in Pakistan and English conditions.

I think this is one of those stats that’s incredibly misleading and number don’t quite capture the quality of asifs bowling.

You need to take out his debut tour to Australia in 2004 where he was basically a back up but with Shohaib and Sami breaking down almost half way into the first match he was brought in in the later matches with Mohammed Khalil against ponting, Hayden and gilchrist etc. They just toyed with him. It was poor selection that skews his figures.

Plus in 2010 in uk him and amir bowled well but then gul and kaneria released all the pressure in the first matches when the ball got old.

But still nice comparison clearly abbas has also gone through troughs like in New Zealand coming back from a shoulder injury a couple of years ago.

Both haven’t had very good partners though. For a brief period amir and Asif were good. But abbas has been with an off colour SSA or perennially injured Khurram shehzad. Does it even out?? I’m not sure.

 

[Marooned]

Asif was superior in every single way.

Much Taller, a bit faster ( Abbas lingers in 120k range at times while Asif didn't), got a lot more bounce and Asif could swing the ball both ways while Abbas can't swing at all and is purely a seam bowler.

If they both played in identical conditions over a large sample size Asif would emerge as statistically much superior too.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

Wasim
Waqar
Asif







Everyone else.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

He wasnt.
Asif was above 30 in real age, and his drug habit had destroyed him internally. Plus, with Pakistan going the UAE route, there was no way he him and amir would had played together.

In uae only 2 pacers would had worked, where someone like Wahab would had been chosen for his pace and reverse swing effect, and another bowler would had been there for support.

@DeadlyVenom pointed out i think (correct me if im wrong DV), but he said that Asif was having a purple patch.

Based on the short career Asif had, he bowled well, but he has been quite over rated by alot of people here. Abbas with better fitness couldnt last in test cricket, than how would Asif had lasted.

Abbad and Asif were similar, with Asif having slight higher bounce due to his height

Not quite a purple patch, but his career did abruptly end when he was flying high. So we cant ever really know for sure how he would have fared and how he would have dealt with ups and downs.

he was top class for the brief time that he played, such a joyful bowler to watch.

 

[Savak]

Asif achieved more but was eventually going to struggle in the long run. Asif benefited from making the most of a lot of green wickets, he was very ordinary on flat wickets in the subcontinent and Australia when there was not enough green on offer, without assistance he became much more manageable.

 

[Savak]

Asif was born with a naturally gifted wrists and bowling iq. He knew exactly where to put the ball to certain batsmen and how to change his line, length based on the batsmen, wicket. Pretty said he was extremely dumb off the field.

 

[Buffet]

Asif

It would have been nice to see him play 50-60 tests.

 

[shaz619]

Md Abbas. Always respect a cricketer who goes about his business playing day in and day out, has passion for the game and keeps himself fit and ready. On top of that stats to boot.

Asif was a very talented bowler but we romanticize the “bad boys” as cool etc. I think his notoriety makes him a lot more celebrated.

You are mentoring a kid who say doesn’t have pace and has seam and swing skills, hands down Abbas is the role model he should follow.

Abbas can barely break into the Test team with little options & that’s a Pak side in their worst era for quick bowling talent, if we’re looking for role models I am sure they can do better than that really.

 

[RidiculousMan]

Abbas can barely break into the Test team with little options & that’s a Pak side in their worst era for quick bowling talent, if we’re looking for role models I am sure they can do better than that really.

He has been treated harshly. He showed on South Africa tour that he was dropped harshly.

 

[Abid Z]

He has been treated harshly. He showed on South Africa tour that he was dropped harshly.

He was not dropped (treated) harshly. He was awful in New Zealand couple of years ago returning from shoulder injury and needed to get back to full fitness. South Africa tour was the first tour in Ages that he could realistically play in. In Pak dead pitches he will get hammered (doesn’t matter he has an excellent record in subcontinent/Uae). Realistically he can only play in Sena and we don’t play that many tests. Maybe in England 2026 he will get a chance who knows.

Asif too wasn’t amazing in 2007 Saf in Pak series. But while Asif was a magician I’d take Abbas any day for just being an honest decent cricketer.

 

[RidiculousMan]

In Pak dead pitches he will get hammered

That's a myth. He has 9 wickets in the 3 games he played in Pakistan at an average of 23.

In fact he continues to take wickets in this season's FC in Pakistan. Last week he picked up 5 wickets giving away 26 runs in the match. Two games before he had a 10fer in the game.

 

[tiger_khan]

Both bowled at rather brisk pace and trouble batters with their seam.

M Abbas now has 100 wickets which is almost the same as Asif's 106 wickets.

As of today here's Abbas record;View attachment 159523


Here's Asif's record;
View attachment 159524

-----

As you can see both have similar record.

Abbas has better record in England and Pakistan. In fact Abbas averages 23.55 in Pakistan while Asif averages 42.30.

In New Zealand and South Africa Asif has a better record.

We can't do Australia comparison because Abbas only played just 1 game which is not enough of a sample size.

In FC Cricket Abbas is above Asif. Abbas has 839 at an average of 20. While Asif has 441 at an average of 23.

-----

Does this show the double standards? People get reminiscent and nostalgic over Asif when in fact that stats indicate that we may very well have a guy of his caliber or even better than him at home. Who has a phenomenal record in Pakistan and English conditions.

A very good topic

Two very similar bowlers but at the same time their different heights brought different dimensions for the batters who faced them

Asif's height and natural bounce in deliveries is not as observed and appreciated as his phenomenal control & varieties

It would have been interesting to see Asif bowl on the Middle Eastern pitches, when Pakistan couldn't host home series. Abbas has done pretty well on them.

I am only bringing up the Middle Eastern/Asian pitches issue because another bowler of Pakistan has a very reasonable record on SENA pitches but struggled on the Asian ones - Mohammad Amir

Abbas with slower arm action than Asif has done very well. It takes a lot of skill to deceive the batsmen when your bowling action is not quick.

A very hard decision for me personally to pick who was better because both are top notch medium pacers. Nevertheless, the great batsmen of the same era have rated Asif very highly. It's always difficult to pick up the length of the ball when the bowler is tall and has a high arm action.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Abbas could have been an excellent test bowler whose prime years were wasted.

Asif could have been a generational talent, and one of the greatest bowlers to ever come out of this country.

There is no comparison in my eyes. Not talking about stats, but based on what I saw when they bowled.

 

[The_KING]

You still have batsmen like KP and Amla who rave about Asif’s bowling, nearly 20 years after he made of mockery of them. I doubt any batsman will still be raving about Abbas 20 years from now.

Abbas is a good bowler and should have played more matches than he has, but there is no comparison. Asif was quicker and could swing the ball both ways. Abass is slower and relies more on helpful seaming conditions. Asif is easily better.

 

[sweep_shot]

You still have batsmen like KP and Amla who rave about Asif’s bowling, nearly 20 years after he made of mockery of them. I doubt any batsman will still be raving about Abbas 20 years from now.

Abbas is a good bowler and should have played more matches than he has, but there is no comparison. Asif was quicker and could swing the ball both ways. Abass is slower and relies more on helpful seaming conditions. Asif is easily better.

Yes.

Asif is a legend who is likely to be remembered for a long time. He had far more skills.

Abbas is just a good bowler. Nothing more.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Asif takes the lead by few miles here... Asif was an all-format bowler and he proved to be equally effective in all.... He is a once-in-a-blue-moon type talent who got acknowledged from some of the top batters and they still talk about him.

Deadly accurate (both) but asif had an extra in his bowling...