5 Unfulfilled talents of the 21st century

5. Mohammad Asif

“Nah. Mohammad Asif by a country mile. If I was in good form, he made sure I wasn’t in good form a couple of weeks later after playing him. And if I wasn’t in good form, I definitely knew I wasn’t after playing him a couple of weeks in a series”- This was Kevin Pietersen’s reply when he was asked whether Mitchell Johnson was the most difficult bowler he faced in his career during an interview to PakPassion.

Pietersen isn’t alone. Most of the celebrated batsmen of the mid to late 2000s like AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla have hailed Asif as the best bowler they faced in their career ‘by a country mile’. And, those who saw Asif in his pomp, would second that view.

Asif wasn’t your quintessential express fast bowler like Shoaib Akhtar or Brett Lee but his complete mastery on moving the ball- in and out- viciously off the seam, is what made him a class apart.  His complete annihilation of the famed Indian batting attack where- to the complete bewilderment of the likes of VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag- he made the ball move wickedly off the seam made him a folk hero in Pakistan and an upcoming star in World cricket.

Did he? Of course, he didn’t! Why not? That is because Asif- the fast bowler and Asif, as an individual were two completely different identities. His penchant for drugs, brawl with teammates (Read: Shoaib Akhtar) and hard cash, paved way for that fateful July day in 2010 when he, along with skipper Salman Butt and teenage prodigy Mohammad Amir was caught in the spot-fixing scandal.

Asif was handed a seven-year ban, and when his plea was rejected by the Court of Arbitration (CAS), curtains officially fell on one the most unfulfilled talents of the 21st century, leaving the fans with the never-ending query: ‘What could have been?”

Honourable mentions: Irfan Pathan, Shaun Marsh, James Faulkner, Mohammad Amir, Shane Bond