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"Mohammad Asif was the scariest bowler I faced" : Kevin Pietersen

I think he named Zaheer because the latter troubled him a lot with his around the wicket line during India's series victory in England 2007.
 
Hardly news. Said it multiple times before

Few years ago he said Asif was the most difficult
 
Any fan could see Asif's talent with the ball. However, it's just impossible to have any sympathy for him. From one offense to another, it's just sickening for any cricket fan. The reason some people have sympathy for Amir is because unlike Asif, he isn't a serial offender.
 
Hitman said:
Any fan could see Asif's talent with the ball. However, it's just impossible to have any sympathy for him. From one offense to another, it's just sickening for any cricket fan. The reason some people have sympathy for Amir is because unlike Asif, he isn't a serial offender.
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Couldn't agree more. Asif was as skilled as McGrath or Wasim and a treat to watch. And most fans will give most people the benefit of the doubt on a 2nd chance (especially if young & being led by seniors). But by the time you are on your 3rd or 4th offence, there really are no excuses and no more chances.
 
AB de Villiers in his autobiography said that the three toughest bowlers he faced ever were:

Asif
Johnson
Panesar

So, you have got the two most talented and skillful batters of a given era claiming Asif as the toughest bowler he faced.

Even Alastair Cook also mentioned him along with Stuart Clarke and Amir(younger one) as the toughest bowlers he faced.
 
The thing about Asif that troubled batsmen was his ability to move the ball either way with no change of action or wrist position.

Inswinger, inswinger, outswinger, straight on, inswinger then a wicket-taking outswinger - all bowled with minimal effort and no change of bowling action, grip or wrist position.
 
How much of Anderson did KP face?. Didn't they play for the same side internationally?
 
Could he be talking about County games? Surely nets don't count...
 
Johnathan Trott had actually Asif figured out in the last test match Asif played. It was the most beautiful exhibition of batting on a green top. Made sure he was outside the line of offstump every time Asif bowled an inswinger and comfortably left all his outswingers.
 
Ponting destroyed Asif, completely at ease against him, averages over 60 when he played Asif.
 
Gilly said:
Ponting destroyed Asif, completely at ease against him, averages over 60 when he played Asif.
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Ponting faced Asif in six Tests, making a total of 133 runs off his bowling and being dismissed thrice.

He scored 43 of those runs during his double-hundred at Hobart. Should have had him for a duck there, but Amir put down an absolute sitter.

It's a pity that the sample size for Asif is so small, but he has can only blame himself for that.
 
What Asif could have been....and what he actually turned out to be; he has no one to blame but himself. He was a master with the ball in any condition, any wicket-even on the flattest of tracks.
 
Gilly said:
Ponting destroyed Asif, completely at ease against him, averages over 60 when he played Asif.
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Asif still made him look like a fool a few times in the '10 series in England.
 
Can't forget Asif's bowling in SL on a hot summer day. Showed extreme fitness, stamina, and skills. The delivery which knocked down Sanga's stumps was the highlight of that game.
 
Boi said:
Asif still made him look like a fool a few times in the '10 series in England.
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Asif was conditions dependent like Anderson except Anderson is better, Ponting scored two double hundreds against Asif, (Sydney 2005, Hobart 2010). Asif had poor records except agianst Sri Lanka.
 
In seaming conditions, Asif was the best around.

A not much discussed fact is that Anderson picked up info on swing from Asif during the 2010 tour of England. For eg: the wobbly seam ball. Not enough credit is given to Asif by English commentators when they're waxing eloquent about Anderson's greatness.

Anderson is a modern great no doubt, but Asif had more flair in his bowling.
 
Savak said:
Johnathan Trott had actually Asif figured out in the last test match Asif played. It was the most beautiful exhibition of batting on a green top. Made sure he was outside the line of offstump every time Asif bowled an inswinger and comfortably left all his outswingers.
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If you're talking about the 180ish Trott made, Asif had a torrid match. The real trouble everyone had was Amir's banana swing.

I think he was a very under-rated and under-praised batsman.
 
Syed1 said:
Can you blame him?

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Lol at the video to suit a preconceived idea. The setup might've been a few balls later. KP just got out to a similar delivery that Asif had been bowling previously.

Nevertheless a world class bowler.
 
I'm sure he's taking her mick out of Warne here. He played Warne easily.

I'm sure he's just taking the mick by putting him as no. 1
 
Gilly said:
Asif was conditions dependent like Anderson except Anderson is better, Ponting scored two double hundreds against Asif, (Sydney 2005, Hobart 2010). Asif had poor records except agianst Sri Lanka.
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Sydney 2005 was his debut match. Hobart as mentioned above, Ponting was dropped very early on by Amir. Harsh to say he has poor records as he only averaged above 30 (31.7) against ENG.
 
“Mohammad Asif troubled me the most” : Kevin Pietersen

Was watching a SuperSports program where KP is talking about his career among other things.

Some quotes regarding Mohammad Asif:

"Mohammad Asif is a bowler who troubled me"

"I don't know if I was playing badly against Pakistan at the time but he just seemed to hit the rope and by that I mean, hitting the seam"

"I had no idea what he was trying to do. I know we're talking about Philander and Abbas right now and we talk about the position batsmen get into out here, on off stump. Philander and Abbas don't have a good bumper"

"Asif had a good bumper. There's no way that I could have gone to the crease and covered my off stump and taken out four modes of dismissal, because he'd bowl a bouncer and you'll get hit on the head"

"I just found him frightening"
 
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Slog said:
Was watching a SuperSports program where KP is talking about his career among other things.

Some quotes regarding Mohammad Asif:

"Mohammad Asif is a bowler who troubled me"

"I don't know if I was playing badly against Pakistan at the time but he just seemed to hit the rope and by that I mean, hitting the seam"

"I had no idea what he was trying to do. I know we're talking about Philander and Abbas right now and we talk about the position batsmen get into out here, on off stump. Philander and Abbas don't have a good bumper"

"Asif had a good bumper. There's no way that I could have gone to the crease and covered my off stump and taken out four modes of dismissal, because he'd bowl a bouncer and you'll get hit on the head"

"I just found him frightening"
Click to expand...

Asif had frightening amounts of talent.

Pity PCB could not see the signs of his self-destructive ways and try and get him back on track
 
Asif made a mockery of a good number of International batsmen. :ab

Agree with him. Abbas needs a good bouncer, otherwise he will be harmless against smart batsmen on most wickets.
 
BreadPakoda said:
Asif made a mockery of a good number of International batsmen. :ab

Agree with him. Abbas needs a good bouncer, otherwise he will be harmless against smart batsmen on most wickets.
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For good bouncer you need pace

Asif bowled on the slower end intentionally whereas for Abbas he doesn’t have the pace
 
KP's pretty much sounded like a broken record on the importance of a good bouncer right throughout the last couple of games.
 
Slog said:
For good bouncer you need pace

Asif bowled on the slower end intentionally whereas for Abbas he doesn’t have the pace
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i heard a rumour abbas was quicker when he was topping the chart in first class around 2013-14 but when we was picked for pakistan in 2017 his performance was not that good it was in the past

our selector have messed up his prime years
 
Asif was not really the unstoppable force as KP is making him out to be. Johnathan Trott eventually figured out the perfect formula to neutralize Asif by coming out of the crease and keeping his pad outside off stump negating Asifs inswinger taking the lbw out of the equation and he was also able to leave Asifs outs wingers with ease as well. It was the best I had ever seen an international batsman play against Asif. Sure one can argue by then the stress and pressure of bowling a lot of overs and long spells had finally caught up with Asif in that series therefore it zapped his energies and effectiveness by then but he also looked clueless on what to do against Johnathan Trotts tactics.

Am pretty sure even if Asif did not get banned, most players around the world would have watched how Johnathan Trott negated Asif and used the exact same strategy
 
Asif was a type of bowler that had you glued to your seats... Like Shoaib, Shane Bond back in the days.

Mesmerizing
 
Savak said:
Asif was not really the unstoppable force as KP is making him out to be. Johnathan Trott eventually figured out the perfect formula to neutralize Asif by coming out of the crease and keeping his pad outside off stump negating Asifs inswinger taking the lbw out of the equation and he was also able to leave Asifs outs wingers with ease as well. It was the best I had ever seen an international batsman play against Asif. Sure one can argue by then the stress and pressure of bowling a lot of overs and long spells had finally caught up with Asif in that series therefore it zapped his energies and effectiveness by then but he also looked clueless on what to do against Johnathan Trotts tactics.

Am pretty sure even if Asif did not get banned, most players around the world would have watched how Johnathan Trott negated Asif and used the exact same strategy
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That happened in the fourth test, which technically was a sixth straight test of a series in which Pak played with three fast bowlers hence a lot of cut and guile went missing. That too in an English summer where the weather totally dominated cricket. If it were cloudy, batsmen would struggle, if it were sunny, they'd totally maul bowlers. Also incidentally, it was the match that were to be the last match of Asif's career for reasons very well documented. Who knew what was happening behind the scenes in that particular match. Asif wasn't all about pace but he could maintain 135 + if he wanted in a spell. He was run to ground and that showed.

Also, KP is strictly giving his opinion on Asif and has nothing to do with the overall abilities of Asif.

Abbas might have had a great start but Asif was a horse for the long-run. Unfortunately he wasn't doing well outside of cricket
 
MenInG said:
Asif had frightening amounts of talent.

Pity PCB could not see the signs of his self-destructive ways and try and get him back on track
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Mohammad Asif didn't help himself. He only has himself to blame
 
He's said this before including in his book.

On the 2006 and 2010 tour he got Pietersen out multiple times.
 
One of the most intelligent bowlers I have ever seen.

Not many bowlers who could bowl inswingers and outswingers with no change of action.

A genius.
 
The genius. Sultan of seam bowling

Oh boy I really miss this guy. The last time Pak fast bowling looked world class level.

It is what it is but Pak might have missed a trick by not reintroducing him in 2016.
 
hadi123 said:
Mohammad Asif didn't help himself. He only has himself to blame
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Our players come from a little to no educational background hence the importance of properly nurturing and managing them which PCB has failed to do over and over again.
 
Sirris said:
Our players come from a little to no educational background hence the importance of properly nurturing and managing them which PCB has failed to do over and over again.
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Morality and poverty are two different aspects. Just because a person is poor, doesn't means his ethics are loose.
 
Wasn't it Amir who said you can find bowlers like me on every street of Pakistan but you won't find a Mohammad Asif anywhere.
 
Well said
Just to add on
religiosity, poverty and morals don't have connection's
Seen very pious looking men with loose character as opposed to non religious men with strong character and moralitie and vice versa
 
Sirris said:
Our players come from a little to no educational background hence the importance of properly nurturing and managing them which PCB has failed to do over and over again.
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For sure, but doesn't mean you can just act like an idiot on numerous occasions then play the education card. Also agree with [MENTION=90888]Itachi[/MENTION]'s post too. Lots of people come from poor backgrounds, not all of them cheat, take drugs and get involved in controversies
 
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saeed5646 said:
[/B]


i heard a rumour abbas was quicker when he was topping the chart in first class around 2013-14 but when we was picked for pakistan in 2017 his performance was not that good it was in the past

our selector have messed up his prime years
Click to expand...

Haha he is still only 28 and he passed his prime? if that's the case we dont need such one year wonders.
 
What is wrong with people here? Asif is well and truly history! He was good while he lasted no need to make more of that.
 
Can anyone guess, which Pakistani bowler was most difficult to face which Sachin accepted to have faced. He said this in interview
 
What a huge loss it was to Pakistan cricket but then I am also glad we nipped this whole thing in the bud :(
 
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