Amla says Asif the best fast bowler he faced

F.P. Report

Cape Town: South African batsman Hashim Amla has termed Mohammad Asif the best international fast bowler he ever faced in his career.

In an interview, the Protean batting great was asked about the best international pacer he came across in his career.

“Mohammad Asif is the best one [I faced], and [I know] he got banned for [spot] fixing but at that stage, he was the best fast bowler I’ve ever faced. He was not quick, 135kph maybe, but his accuracy was phenomenal,” Amla said.

The batsman admitted he could never tell if Asif’s delivery would nip away or in.

“We played him in South Africa and even in Pakistan in 2007. [If] he landed in the first stump I didn’t know if it was nipping away or nipping in… He tested your defence really, to the maximum.”

Amla said in the years since, many other cricketers also thought Asif was the toughest bowler they batted to. “Funnily enough, as the years have gone by, meeting other cricketers from home, the world over, just loosely chatting… so many of the guys feel exactly the same thing. They said Mohammad Asif was a magician of the ball in a way.”

Previously, many other batting legends have also talked about how Asif troubled them the most. Former South Africa captain AB de Villiers and England’s Kevin Pietersen have named him as the toughest bowler they ever faced. Asif represented Pakistan in 23 Tests, 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is, where he took 106, 46 and 13 wickets respectively, before he was banned from international cricket for his role in the spot-fixing scandal in 2010.