Mohammed Asif Opens Up About 'Favoritism' And 'Nepotism' In Pakistan Cricket

The career of Asif has been like a bumpy ride. It has seen both the extremes when once he was labelled as one of the greatest swing bowler of the modern era and on other occasions he was barred from playing international cricket. Asif completed his 7-yer ban and returned to Pakistan's domestic cricket in 2018.

(File Photo/ Getty Images)

Pakistan: Pakistan fast-bowler, Mohammed Asif, who faced a seven-year ban from playing cricket after he was involved in a match-fixing scandal in 2010, opened up about "Nepotism" in Pakistan cricket. He said that players were being selected in Pakistan's domestic cricket based on their contacts. 

The career of Asif has been like a bumpy ride. It has seen both the extremes when once he was labelled as one of the greatest swing bowler of the modern era and on other occasions he was barred from playing international cricket. Asif completed his 7-yer ban and returned to Pakistan's domestic cricket in 2018. He played his last match in November 2018 for Water And Power Development Authority in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. 

Mohammed Asif sounded displeased with Pakistan's domestic cricket. “After participating in domestic cricket after my return I realised that there was a lot of favoritism and nepotism at play. Players were being picked based on who they knew rather than how good they were. Guys who were scoring 25 runs per innings were being labelled as great hopes and heroes. Bowlers with no performances were being given chance after chance, it was depressing and I knew people were trying to drop a hint to me to give up playing,” Asif was quoted as saying by PakPassion.

“I wanted to continue playing, but I started to think about alternatives to playing and focused on coaching and I was asked to go to Afghanistan for a coaching stint with their young pace bowlers in 2016. However, the security situation meant that I had to decline the offer which was unfortunate as I was really looking forward to working with those youngsters,” he added.

Here are some of Asif's brilliant bowling performances from late 2000s

Mohammed Asif showed glimpses of brilliant swing bowling when he played for Pakistan. He has picked up 106 wickets in 23 Test matches for Pakistan. He picked up a five-wicket haul seven times in his six-year-long career. He also played in the Indian Premier League representing the Delhi Daredevils.