[VIDEO/PICTURES] Mohammad Asif: Net Session in Chicago (August 2021)

[Saralg]

I had the fortune to meet and play with the legend Mohammad Asif 2 weeks ago (Aug 2021) in Chicago where he visited to take part in a charity cricket match. At first, when I met him on the ground, I could not believe I am meeting the player who I and many other idolize for his dominance of the cricket ball. My first interaction with him was uneventful. I requested him for few pictures and spoke to him about how much I admire him and as a bowler myself, how many times I have searched YouTube for his videos.

I have on repeat mode watched him with mastery outwit other legends like Sachin, Sehwag, Laxman, Clark, Peterson to name a few. That day, I saw him bat but I could not stay back for his bowling as there were charity events in the middle and the evening was going to be much longer before I saw him bowl. However, I rushed home to watch him bowl on Facebook Live. It was master at his craft. With just a few steps, he was making the ball talk and bounce as I had never seen in Chicago. I regretted every bit of leaving the ground early and wondered if I will ever get to see him bowl again.

The next day, one of my friends who is super passionate about cricket and owns one of the finest Cricket cages in Chicago, calls me up. He tells me, Mohammad Asif is going to be in his cricket nets for 2 hours. There are only going to be around 5 of us. I could not believe this was happening and my respect and love for my friend skyrocketed that day. Mohammad Asif was expected to be in the nets from 5 to 7 pm. I raced past rush hour traffic and reached the nets at 4.55 pm with the expectation Asif would be there by 6. He was already there, warming up, holding a ball alongside Adam Sanford (formed WI bowler).

The next 2 hours were the most memorable 2 hours of my cricketing career. He coached us, talked to us about his experience. He also talked about last night's Charity match pitch being like Perth with the over-the-top bounce. He was very disciplined, he used cones to put a running path for us bowlers and talked to us how to approach the wicket in a smooth way and save the energy for the delivery and not running all around and being tired by the time you approach the wicket.

He talked to us about how Shoaib Akhtar used to send him to pick the cricket balls that matches were played with. He talked about how the lighter ball swings more in the air than the heavy. He talked about the World T20 loss against India while he was on the non-striker end. He talked about the wrist position he uses to deliver the swing, how he bowls a slower ball. There were so many things talked about and inputs he shared with us about fitness, commitment, thinking ahead of the batsman.

I got a chance to bat against him. the first ball pitched at good length and swung outside. I completely missed the ball. I felt very embarrassed, but then I wasn't the only one and what did I expect. The next ball came inside, this time, I had my body behind and played it with a straight bat. He was appreciative that I was able to read the ball, "Yeah aacha khela aapne, ball aapne judge kar li"
Post the session, he spent few mins with us all in the group and gave us a pep talk, motivating us all to work on our fitness.

This was a memory of a lifetime for me and I don't have enough words to say what a humble and down-to-earth person he is. He is still the King of Swing. As one of his fans, I was very happy to learn he is doing well and is content with how things are.

I am looking forward to meeting with him again during Sept 4th weekend, where I will get an opportunity to spend 2-3 days with him, covering him while he is playing Gold Cup in Chicago.


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Some pictures from the Nets

 

[Bullet Drive]

Awesome story. Legendary bowler!

 

[Yk313]

Waned but not surprised. Hope he is not using anything these days.

No point talking about what he was and could have been. That’s the easy part.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

If only I was a billionaire, I’d make him the bowling coach of my PSL franchise.

 

[UzmanBeast]

His skillset was unbelievable.

Young cricketers would benefit a lot if they spent some time with him. He would probably be willing to help players to get rid of his tarnished legacy.

 

[ElRaja]

greatest tragedy in pak cricket, in this era he would have been playing around with batsmen given how loose techniques are now.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

If only I was a billionaire, I’d make him the bowling coach of my PSL franchise.

His skillset was unbelievable.

Young cricketers would benefit a lot if they spent some time with him. He would probably be willing to help players to get rid of his tarnished legacy.

That's one of our major misunderstanding. Not sure how hard is it to grasp?

Swing/skill came all natural to these guys. They can't teach it to anyone else.
Wasim Akram is another example.
Both have coaching videos on YT. Wasim coached for years in India. Neither Wasim was ever able to produce another Wasim, nor Tendulkar and Viv Richards (who both coached) were able to produce another Tendulkar or Viv.
Maradona also coached, but was never able to produce another Maradona.
And obviously yes, our own good ol' Waqar was never able to produce any pacer who could bowl those in-dipping yorkers.

Did you get the idea of what I am saying?

And Asif is no different.
Just like Wasim Akram, his wrist position, his shoulder strength, ligaments in the arm, ball trajectory, head position, release point, grip, seam position, and whatever other factors are required to make the ball move in the air or off the pitch, have all the plumbing naturally done for them. They were born with it and had to do very little to shine it.

They don't really know all the exact factors that will make the ball swing. So they can't teach it.

Jimmy Anderson and Tim Southee on the other hand; all their lives worked their rear ends off to actually LEARN how to swing the ball. And I guarantee you, they would be 1000% better coaches than Wasim and Asif can ever be.

If we are obsessed with having another Wasim or Asif or Waqar, then we can't create one or teach a kid to become one. We will need to find that needle in the haystack and identify such an all naturally born talented youngster who comes once every decade or so.

Otherwise, in the general spectrum of talent, we can pick the best available, teach them the ethics and rewards of working hard BEFORE we coach them by proper coaches who actually know how teach the skill.

 

[UzmanBeast]

That's one of our major misunderstanding. Not sure how hard is it to grasp?

Swing/skill came all natural to these guys. They can't teach it to anyone else.
Wasim Akram is another example.
Both have coaching videos on YT. Wasim coached for years in India. Neither Wasim was ever able to produce another Wasim, nor Tendulkar and Viv Richards (who both coached) were able to produce another Tendulkar or Viv.
Maradona also coached, but was never able to produce another Maradona.
And obviously yes, our own good ol' Waqar was never able to produce any pacer who could bowl those in-dipping yorkers.

Did you get the idea of what I am saying?

And Asif is no different.
Just like Wasim Akram, his wrist position, his shoulder strength, ligaments in the arm, ball trajectory, head position, release point, grip, seam position, and whatever other factors are required to make the ball move in the air or off the pitch, have all the plumbing naturally done for them. They were born with it and had to do very little to shine it.

They don't really know all the exact factors that will make the ball swing. So they can't teach it.

Jimmy Anderson and Tim Southee on the other hand; all their lives worked their rear ends off to actually LEARN how to swing the ball. And I guarantee you, they would be 1000% better coaches than Wasim and Asif can ever be.

If we are obsessed with having another Wasim or Asif or Waqar, then we can't create one or teach a kid to become one. We will need to find that needle in the haystack and identify such an all naturally born talented youngster who comes once every decade or so.

Otherwise, in the general spectrum of talent, we can pick the best available, teach them the ethics and rewards of working hard BEFORE we coach them by proper coaches who actually know how teach the skill.

I'm not saying get Asif to coach, that would be a mistake.

I'm saying that if a youngster wanted to further their career and learn something new, there's no harm in asking for advice or help.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

That's one of our major misunderstanding. Not sure how hard is it to grasp?

Swing/skill came all natural to these guys. They can't teach it to anyone else.
Wasim Akram is another example.
Both have coaching videos on YT. Wasim coached for years in India. Neither Wasim was ever able to produce another Wasim, nor Tendulkar and Viv Richards (who both coached) were able to produce another Tendulkar or Viv.
Maradona also coached, but was never able to produce another Maradona.
And obviously yes, our own good ol' Waqar was never able to produce any pacer who could bowl those in-dipping yorkers.

Did you get the idea of what I am saying?

And Asif is no different.
Just like Wasim Akram, his wrist position, his shoulder strength, ligaments in the arm, ball trajectory, head position, release point, grip, seam position, and whatever other factors are required to make the ball move in the air or off the pitch, have all the plumbing naturally done for them. They were born with it and had to do very little to shine it.

They don't really know all the exact factors that will make the ball swing. So they can't teach it.

Jimmy Anderson and Tim Southee on the other hand; all their lives worked their rear ends off to actually LEARN how to swing the ball. And I guarantee you, they would be 1000% better coaches than Wasim and Asif can ever be.

If we are obsessed with having another Wasim or Asif or Waqar, then we can't create one or teach a kid to become one. We will need to find that needle in the haystack and identify such an all naturally born talented youngster who comes once every decade or so.

Otherwise, in the general spectrum of talent, we can pick the best available, teach them the ethics and rewards of working hard BEFORE we coach them by proper coaches who actually know how teach the skill.

Not saying he’ll produce 10 bowlers as good as him, just saying that he’s been there and done it. He can share his experience with youngsters. There’s knowledge that Anderson will have that Asif won’t have and vice versa.

People highly rate Ian Pont, and I do to, but what did he do in his playing career that would suggest his knowledge would be far more valuable than someone like Akhtar.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

I'm not saying get Asif to coach, that would be a mistake.

I'm saying that if a youngster wanted to further their career and learn something new, there's no harm in asking for advice or help.

Not saying he’ll produce 10 bowlers as good as him, just saying that he’s been there and done it. He can share his experience with youngsters. There’s knowledge that Anderson will have that Asif won’t have and vice versa.

People highly rate Ian Pont, and I do to, but what did he do in his playing career that would suggest his knowledge would be far more valuable than someone like Akhtar.

Probably right.
The only thing he can teach the youngsters is to present himself as an example of what happens when you lose focus, lose your way and take the short cuts when a little fame and money gets to your head.

 

[Savak]

He has zero interest in Pakistan Cricket or giving anything back. Mohd Yousaf, Saqlain Mushtaq were badly treated by the PCB in his final years but they have put the past behind and have joined the PCB to contribute

 

[ahmedzee]

Look how clean his action, run up and follow through is. He kept between the cones.
Damn, he really destroyed his career. Imagine if he was still playing, probably would've end up with 600+ wickets.

 

[Saralg]

Mohammad Asif, Pakistan Bowling Coach Role Interest

Recently, I sat down with Mohammad Asif during his 4 days trip to Chicago, Sept 4 2021, where he played Gold Cup and his team won the championship. On the day when Misbah and Waqar resigned, One of the topics we discussed extensively was "If given an opportunity will he be interested in a Pakistan Bowling Coaching Role".

His point of view was the system is in a mess, we don't groom the talent well and from an early age. He cited the example of Rahul Dravid coaching India U-19 and said he preferred to be working with young players and grooming their skills, getting them ready for the bigger stage.

I asked him, the game has changed a lot from when he used to play, will he be able to adapt to T-20 style of cricket, where he promptly reminded me that he was the first bowler to bowl a maiden in a T-20 match and the first one to take 2 wickets in a maiden over getting Andrew Strauss and Kevin Peterson out during his debut T20 match.
He emphasized cricket is a batsman game nowadays and that's where grooming a bowler's skills are important.

While we know he is not going to be back in National Colors, seeing him bowling and mentoring kids in the nets will be something to look forward to.

I can understand the regret he carries in himself and how desperate he is to offer his skills which once Imran Khan said were the best he had ever seen.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Recently, I sat down with Mohammad Asif during his 4 days trip to Chicago, Sept 4 2021, where he played Gold Cup and his team won the championship. On the day when Misbah and Waqar resigned, One of the topics we discussed extensively was "If given an opportunity will he be interested in a Pakistan Bowling Coaching Role".
His point of view was the system is in a mess, we don't groom the talent well and from an early age. He cited the example of Rahul Dravid coaching India U-19 and said he preferred to be working with young players and grooming their skills, getting them ready for the bigger stage.

I asked him, the game has changed a lot from when he used to play, will he be able to adapt to T-20 style of cricket, where he promptly reminded me that he was the first bowler to bowl a maiden in a T-20 match and the first one to take 2 wickets in a maiden over getting Andrew Strauss and Kevin Peterson out during his debut T20 match.
He emphasized cricket is a batsman game nowadays and that's where grooming a bowler's skills are important.

While we know he is not going to be back in National Colors, seeing him bowling and mentoring kids in the nets will be something to look forward to.

I can understand the regret he carries in himself and how desperate he is to offer his skills which once Imran Khan said were the best he had ever seen.

A person who could not groom himself to stay out of trouble will groom other players.
Look somewhere else.

 

[Savak]

Don't take what Asif says seriously. He is full of himself. He has no real desire or sincerity to give anything back to Cricket let alone Pakistan Cricket

 

[PakLFC]

He still looks fit enough to be in the national team. I am thinking he would probably have had shown more loyalty to Pak side then Amir who retired from Test cricket for silly reasons. Everything aside I agree that we just don't know how to use or utilise our ex greats. All we hear is IK running his mouth about being a PhD in Cricket. In coming years Asif could very well be working with England or any other side.