Mohammad Asif

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Mohammad Asif Pakistan (Pak)
Batting style	Left-hand bat
Bowling type	Right-arm fast-medium
	Tests	ODIs
Matches	9	22
Runs scored	40	20
Batting average	5.71	4.00
100s/50s	-/-	-/-
Top score	12*	6
Balls bowled	1914	702
Wickets	49	22
Bowling average	20.12	31.90
5 wickets in innings	4	-
10 wickets in match	1	n/a
Best bowling	6/44	3/28
Catches/stumpings	2/-	2/-
As of [[February 15]], 2007 Source: Cricinfo.com

There is also an Omani cricketer with this name.

Mohammad Asif (Urdu: ???) (born 20 December 1982 in Sheikhupura) is a Pakistani cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm fast-medium bowler.

He made his Test match debut in the third Test of the three-match series against Australia in January 2005, where he bowled 18 overs without taking a wicket. He has also played List A and Twenty20 cricket, and has played for Khan Research Labs, the National Bank Quetta, Sheikhupura, and, most recently, Sialkot. His best first-class single-innings bowling figures are 7 for 35, for Sialkot against Multan at the 2004–05 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

In November 2005, Leicestershire announced the signing of Asif for the 2006 season after he had played a game for their second XI in 2004. Leicestershire's chairman Neil Davidson described him as a "bowler with the ability to generate great pace".^[1]

Asif returned to the Pakistan Test side in January 2006 for the home tour against India. In the second Test, Asif bowled 34 overs and took the wicket of Yuvraj Singh. It was the third Test in Karachi, however, where Asif would make headlines. After a poor batting display by Pakistan, Asif took 4 for 78 in the first innings, including the wickets of V. V. S. Laxman, Rahul Dravid and, once again, Yuvraj Singh, to help Pakistan take a six-run lead. Asif returned in the second innings with three clean bowled wickets of Virender Sehwag, Laxman, and Sachin Tendulkar to lead Pakistan to victory. His series against the Indians was blighted by a fine imposed by match referee Chris Broad for overappealing and premature celebration of a wicket.^[2]

Asif followed up his match-winning efforts against India in Pakistan's next tour in Sri Lanka, where he took a career-best 11 for 71 in the 2nd Test, in another dramatic come-from-behind victory.

Asif missed the first three Tests in Pakistan's tour to England in the summer of 2006, but returned to the side for the fourth Test and immediately made an impact, picking up four wickets (Andrew Strauss, Alistair Cook, Paul Collingwood and Kevin Pietersen) in the first innings at the Oval, and another in the second (Marcus Trescothick).

Asif claimed 19 wickets abroad in Pakistan's test series against South Africa in 2007. This feat lifted him to eighth in the LG ICC Test player rankings after only nine appearances - equalling the record for the fewest matches taken by a Pakistan bowler to reach the top 10, shared by Waqar Younis and Pervez Sajjad.^[3]

Following the 2-1 test series loss against South Africa, Pakistan captain Inzamam-Ul-Haq praised Asif's performance, "Asif has immaculate length control and a natural ability to swing the ball both ways. He is also quick to spot a weakness in batsmen and work on it."^[4] Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer added, "He [Asif] is a modern-day fast bowler based on the likes of [Shaun] Pollock and [Glenn] McGrath. He gives you control and has the ability to hit the seam and make the ball move both ways. In Pakistan terms he is more Sarfraz Nawaz than Imran Khan.^[5]

Former Pakistan captian Imran Khan agreed with the assessment of Asif's progress, saying: "Asif is well on his way to become one of the greats. If he gains a little bit of pace through weight training he can be more lethal."^[6]

Contents 1 Drug Scandal 2 "Picked on" due to Religion 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Drug Scandal

On October 16, 2006, Asif was suspended by the PCB along with team mate Shoaib Akhtar, and was pulled from the Champions Trophy^[7] after the pair failed drug tests for the performance-enhancing substance Nandrolone.^[8]

England batsman Andrew Strauss said the news had rocked cricket. Speaking on BBC Radio Five Live, he said: "When drugs are used in any sport it is not a great day for that sport and this not a great day for cricket."^[9]

On 1 November 2006, the PCB handed down a two-year suspension to Shoaib Akhtar and a one-year suspension to Mohammad Asif, banning them from professional cricket for the duration.^[10] Both Asif and Shoaib have been added to Pakistan Olympic Association list of doping offenders.^[11] The tribunal set to investigate steroid use revealed that Asif had been using a protein supplement, Promax-50.^[12] The panel had reported to have shown a degree of leniency to Asif as they believe that he did not understand what he was taking and stopped at the request of the physiotherapist. Both Akhtar and Asif appealed against the ban. A second tribunal was formed. On December 5 both were acquitted by the tribunal appointed to review their drug ban appeal. The decision was made two to one with Hasib Ahsan and Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim in favour of the acquittal. Statement by Justice Ebrahim: "This appeal committee [therefore] holds that Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif will not be deemed to have committed a doping offence," Ibrahim said. "The ban and punishment imposed by the earlier tribunal is hereby set aside as being contrary to the provision of laws."

However, the WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency was unhappy with the decision^[13] and is set to challenge the decision to lift the bans on the fast bowlers, and will take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.^[14] The ICC, cricket's world governing body, has supported the WADA appeal adding that it was committed to a dope free game.^[15]

On 6 December 2006, Asif spoke out in his defence in an interview with the BBC. When asked to explain the presence of Nandrolone in his body, Asif cited a lack of awareness in Asian countries and said that he had taken some vitamins and protein supplements during the team's 2006 tour of England, which led to the problem. He also mentioned that medicines are easier to obtiain in Pakistan, with little information available about the quality of the medicines.^[16]

On March 1 2007, Akhtar and Asif were ruled out of the Pakistani squad for the 2007 Cricket World Cup by team officials, minutes before the squad was to depart for the West Indies. The team management along with the PCB said their injuries were too severe to risk taking them to the Caribbean. Since neither of the two had been declared fit they had not undergone official doping tests. However, Pakistani officials told cricket sources off the record that the team management had feared that they would fail the doping tests as it was likely traces of Nandrolone were still present in their system.^[17]

[edit] "Picked on" due to Religion

On 6 December 2006 Asif, in an interview with the BBC Asian Network, complained that the Pakistan cricket team face an anti-muslim bias. He first suggested that being Islamic means the team runs into problems. He was then asked by the interviewer if he feels the team are "picked on". He replied "Yeah treatment is going to be different because we know that there is a religion problem and other problems." Asif went on to defend the team's religiousness saying, "I think it's a very good thing [that the Pakistani team pray together before a game]."^[18]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mohammed Asif - Cricinfo Player Profile
• MohammadAsif.com
• Unofficial Mohammad Asif Fansite

	Pakistan squad - 2007 Cricket World Cup
1 Inzamam | 2 Younis | 3 Azhar | 4 Kaneria | 5 Rao | 6 Imran | 7 Kamran | 8 Hafeez | 9 Sami | 10 Yousuf | 11 Rana Naved | 12 Afridi | 13 Malik | 14 Umar | 15 Arafat | Coach: Woolmer Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were named in the original squad but withdrew from the tournament. Mushtaq Ahmed acted as temporary coach for Pakistan's final group game following the death of Bob Woolmer.