Mohammad Asif

[tooextracool]

I never denied Karachi had movement in the first innings, because it obviously did but to even say that the pitch was bowler friendly from day 3 and beyond is silly. It wasn't flat, but it did flatten out a lot, and that's how Pakistan piled on 599. There is no way in hell any team can hit 599 at the speed Pakistan did (140.1 overs) on a bowler friendly pitch. It gave a little movement, and wasn't as flat as what we'd seen in the previous 2 tests, but it was not a bowler friendly wicket.

it may not have been bowler friendly but there was plenty of help for the bowlers which was my point. to say that the pitch didnt help the bowlers because the likes of Pathan, RP singh and co couldnt take wickets is pushing it IMO. Both shoaib and Asif got appreciable movement of the pitch, which only goes to show what bowlers who have more pace and bounce could get out of that wicket.

And in regards to this Sri Lanka match, if it was so pace bowler friendly than how the hell did the Sri Lankan pacers only manage to take 5 wickets between them for 237 runs at an average of 47.1? What about Gul and Anjum doing crap all as well? It doesn't matter how crap a seam bowler you are, if the pitch is offering as much assistance as you are suggesting, they'd get more wickets than they did and wouldn't have given away as many runs as they did.

umm the SL bowlers didnt take wickets because it consisted of Maharoof, kulasekara and Malinga, which is comfortably one of the worst SL pace attacks seen in a long time. and just because they didnt take wickets it doesnt mean that there wasnt any help, Maharoof was getting plenty of seam movement from the wicket despite competing with Malinga for having one of the worst bowling actions in the SL side.

Asif makes a pitch look more dangerous than he is. Compare these pitches to the ones seen in the Aus vs. SA tour when not only was Clark lethal, but Ntini, Lee, Nel and others were all getting seam movement.

So you're saying that Maharoof didnt get seam movement at Kandy? if you can tell me with a straight face that the ball that Razzaq bowled Mahela Jayawardhene with did not get significant seam movement, id be astonished considering that it seamed by several inches

 

[superkingdave]

yep agree with TEC with regards to English pitches, people seem to think all the English pitches are seamers paradises. In fact they have been high scoring the last few years. In county cricket there are a lot of spin friendly ptiches about.

IIRC Pakistan will play at Lords (slope can help but can also be a hindrance for the inexperienced), Old Trafford (generally pretty flat, sometimes taking spin, though with no Murali at Lancs this year that may change), Headingly (not been as much of a pacemans paradise as people think recently, very much depends on overhead conditions) and the Oval (pace bounce but good for batsmen).

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Javed Miandad had made a comment about Mohammad Asif later last year i.e "Gaandh phaad de ga angrez ki" (Will blow up the as*h*l*s of English) & I think thats gonna prove true in Pakistan's upcoming tour of England.Only way that the Englishmen can save themselves from Asif & Shoaib is by preparin wickets which are as dead as they were in first 2 tests of India vs Pakistan series earlier this year.I think Mohammad Asif & Munaf Patel are one of the best young fast bowlers of the world but they need to perform against sides like Australia also.Umar Gul bowls too many short-pitch ed delliveries & Sreesanth has been very expensive most of the times I've seen him bowling.

Filter warning. kthnxbye

 

[Richard]

weak opponents, like Lanka.

 

[Richard]

Yeah but these sort of wickets are far less bowler friendly then what he might get in england, he has bowled well where it is more difficult for fast bowlers to get wickets. Hence in england the chances of him getting wickets are more........

Clearly you haven't seen much recent cricket in England.
Seaming pitches at present are pretty rare.

 

[Richard]

Asif, Clark, a couple of INdian fast medium bowlers who actually bowl at a decent speed AND move the ball....... Are the bowling stocks around the world rising again?

Maybe, but I'll not raise my hopes until it's happened for more than a few Tests (which it has for all concerned).

 

[Richard]

Pakistan's worries in England won't be how well Asif and Shoaib do with the ball, it'll be how well their batsman play the likes of Freddy, Hoggard, Harmison and Jones if he's fit. At the moment far too many of their batsman struggle at the sign of any movement at all, whether off the pitch or in the air.

I'd back them to play Harmison pretty well - as most people tend to.

 

[Richard]

As far as English pitches offering more is concerned, thats merely a stereotype, games in England have typically been high scoring over the last 2 summers with conditions not offering too much in terms of conventional swing or seam.

Try the last 4...

 

[Jono]

Still nice to see

Everyone was so pessimistic following the epic 434 chase between SA and Aus that ODIs, and frankly cricket in general was going to get even more batsman dominated. Well we've had a streak of bowling dominated ODIs, and recent tests have had some bowler friendly wickets, or at the least far from flat ones. To top it off, some of those fast bowlers already mentioned have given some of the best batsman a hard time.

 

[kvemuri]

Well that 2nd innings involved some really pathetic bowling from the Indian seamers so that's one reason why Pakistan flourished with the bat and India didn't. Still, Asif was brilliant and his probing line and occasionally unplayable cutters are amazing. Really looks like a McGrath.

A bit early to compare him to McGrath yet..but Pakistan have definitely unearthed a gem in him. With his nagging line and length and prodigious swing he can go a long way. Excellent bowler imo.

 

[kvemuri]

I know Miandad can make outlandish statements at times, but I doubt even he would say something offensive like that. You sure someone didn't exagerate his comments when you read/heard them?

Miandad did say such comments, it was quoted in some article that i read more than a month ago. Also Miandad has made comments over the years which came back to bite him his "Gali Gali Mein Pathan" before the 2004 Indo-Pak series (which he later denied in an article he wrote) but that did come back to bite him as Pathan in that series truned out to be a difference maker. Coming back to Asif though, he is definitely a terrific bowler. Time will only tell how great he can become.

 

[Richard]

Still nice to see

Everyone was so pessimistic following the epic 434 chase between SA and Aus that ODIs, and frankly cricket in general was going to get even more batsman dominated. Well we've had a streak of bowling dominated ODIs, and recent tests have had some bowler friendly wickets, or at the least far from flat ones. To top it off, some of those fast bowlers already mentioned have given some of the best batsman a hard time.

I shall wait, also, for it to happen at my home, before getting too excited.
It's a disgrace - the country that should be the most seam-friendly in The World is currently probably the best place to bat.

 

[Richard]

Miandad did say such comments, it was quoted in some article that i read more than a month ago. Also Miandad has made comments over the years which came back to bite him his "Gali Gali Mein Pathan" before the 2004 Indo-Pak series (which he later denied in an article he wrote) but that did come back to bite him as Pathan in that series truned out to be a difference maker.

He did?
1 good Test?

 

[RolledOver]

Javed Miandad had made a comment about Mohammad Asif later last year i.e "Gaandh phaad de ga angrez ki" (Will blow up the as*h*l*s of English) & I think thats gonna prove true in Pakistan's upcoming tour of England.Only way that the Englishmen can save themselves from Asif & Shoaib is by preparin wickets which are as dead as they were in first 2 tests of India vs Pakistan series earlier this year..

Javed Miandad is an absolute disgrace to have said such a thing.Also Miandad is an idiot not to have realised that it will be Pakistani batsmen that will be in real trouble in England as the pansy Pakistani batsmen will be against a world class pace attack of Jones,Hoggard,Harmison,Anderson & Flintoff, and i think except for maybe Inzi, none of the current Pakistani batters are good enough to score in England.

The current English attack is proven in the sense that they performed against world champs Australia, in contrast Asif failed badly against Australia & only got thrashed at the hands of Pontings men.I think ppl are expecting alot from young Asif and he wouldn't live upto those high expectations.

And about the suggestion that England should prepare dead wkts in fear of Pak pace attack.....LOL! England didn't do such a stupid thing against Australia, when Australia had class bowlers like McGrath,Warne,Lee etc, then why should they do against Pakistanis?? Or maybe its just a wish by a Pakistani fan knowing very well the short commings of his team's half-skilled batsmen.

I'm amazed to see the reaction of some of the fans who think that in a couple of tests wonder, Pakistan already has an attack that can rock England in their own backyards!

 

[silentstriker]

Probably the better translation is "Rip out (or through) their *******"

Now we finally know who gotse was.

 

[kvemuri]

He did?
1 good Test?

Did Miandad say that...it was quoted around that time in Indian and Pakistani media, for both instances Pathan's and Asif's, although Miandad himself has denied both.

1 good test? is that for Pathan? welll he had a damn good 3 test series with 12 wkts for 342 runs.

Pathan's stats in 03/04 vs Pak in tests

 

[tooextracool]

I'd back them to play Harmison pretty well - as most people tend to.

yet they struggled against him in the first 2 tests in pakistan. infact even at the end of the series, Harmison outbowled everyone bar Flintoff(who was only marginally ahead of him in averages)

 

[tooextracool]

Try the last 4...

no bar Lords 05 and Headingly 04, almost every other pitch offered very little in terms of seam movement or conventional swing in the last 2 years.

 

[IndianByHeart]

Javed Miandad had made a comment about Mohammad Asif later last year i.e "Gaandh phaad de ga angrez ki" (Will blow up the as*h*l*s of English) & I.

Miandad's statement are shocking, its unfortunate to see a fine batsmen using such foul abusive language.

 

[IndianByHeart]

Only way that the Englishmen can save themselves from Asif & Shoaib is by preparin wickets which are as dead as they were in first 2 tests of India vs Pakistan series earlier this year..

Perhaps this guy wants job for Pakistani grounds men that have mastered the art of making dead pitches

I do think England doesn't stand a chance while facing the mighty duo of Akhtar and Asif ..... Frightening