Mohammad Asif better than Bumrah, Amir and Wasim Akram: Shoaib Akhtar

Mohammad Asif’s fledgling cricketing career was cut short when he was caught in the controversial spot-fixing scandal that rocked the cricketing world in the year 2010. The trio of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif, and Mohammad Amir was banned by the International Cricket Council(ICC) after they were found guilty of spot-fixing at Lords against England.

Up until that point, Asif had picked up 106 wickets in Tests and 46 wickets in the ODI format. At the age of 27, Asif’s career was over after he was imposed a seven-year ban and the right arm speedster did not feature in a single match after that for the Pakistan side.

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has termed Asif as the ‘smartest bowler’ that he has ever seen and is of the opinion that Asif could have become better than the legendary Wasim Akram. He also added that unorthodox batting genius AB de Villiers was made to cry by Asif.

“I think he probably is the smartest fast bowler. Bumrah, Mohammad Amir and even bigger than Wasim Akram, the guy that I’ve seen bowling is Mohammad Asif. I have actually seen batsmen crying while facing Asif. Laxman once said ‘how will I face this guy’, AB de Villiers literally started crying during the Asian Test Championship,” opined Akhtar in a chat with Sports Today.

Shoaib Akhtar feels that Jasprit Bumrah is a smart bowler

The Rawalpindi Express also added that Bumrah is another guy who is a smart bowler, “But I think after Asif, Bumrah is the smartest fast bowler presently. People were doubtful about his fitness in Test cricket, even I was watching him closely. He has a quick bouncer, is deceptive and sharp and a good character this guy is,” revealed Akhtar.

Akhtar also termed Bumrah as one of the nicest guys that he has ever come across and said that Bumrah exhibits his aggression in the length that he bowls.

“Bumrah has aggression in his length, not in his body. This is how I’m going to define Bumrah. There is aggression in the length he bowls, he defeats the batsmen with his length. His body language is not aggressive, he’s the nicest guy I’ve come across. But when he comes to bowl, in those 5 seconds he showcases his aggression in his length.”

In an international career that lasted almost a decade and a half, Shoaib Akhtar took 178 wickets in Tests and 247 wickets in ODI cricket for Pakistan.