A well known saying states that a cat has nine lives. Normally cricketers just have the one life, but it would seem that Pakistani medium fast bowler Mohammad Asif has had more than one life during his rather bizarre and controversial cricket career.

 by Saj Sadiq

10 February 2011

A well known saying states that a cat has nine lives. Normally cricketers just have the one life, but it would seem that Pakistani medium fast bowler Mohammad Asif has had more than one life during his rather bizarre and controversial cricket career. Sooner or later he was going to use up those lives and find himself on the cricketing “scrapheap” for good and that time came after his ban for spot fixing.

The summer of 2003 was an important moment for the lanky Sheikhupura bowler. It was a summer that would see him leave the shores of Pakistan for the first time in order to play league cricket in the North West of England. Recommended by a former Pakistan wicket keeper, who had been impressed with Asif since his first class debut 2 years earlier, Asif found himself residing near Southport and playing for Ainsdale Cricket Club in Merseyside.
Asif stopped with a local couple that summer, and the couple very kindly spoke to PakPassion.net ; we’ve not revealed their identities for obvious reasons.

“We called him Iffy, it was our nickname for him. There were some problems with his date of birth at first, as what he thought was his date of birth, actually wasn’t the same as his passport. We managed to sort that out and Iffy settled into living with us.”
“He was a young man (20 years of age), who was out of Pakistan for the first time and we did what we could in order for him to settle into the English way of life. He didn’t really adjust throughout the summer away from the cricket pitch. He found it difficult to adjust and I would definitely say that it must have felt like a long 5 months for him.”

“He kept himself to himself, was a quiet boy who found it strange that women had so much independence in England. On the pitch he was excellent for Ainsdale, took lots of wickets and helped us win promotion. He was a great help to the youngsters in the team and his main strength in his bowling was his nagging accuracy. He could quite literally put the ball wherever he wanted to and he was devastating especially to the lower order batsmen. He only missed one match throughout the summer and that was due to shingles. The only negative I would say regarding Asif’s cricket was that on a few occasions he lost his cool and bowled intentional beamers at opposition batsmen.”

“Asif would quite often talk about his humble background in Pakistan and how his family had encountered some very difficult times. He said that whilst his main reason for coming to England to play league cricket was to gain some experience in English conditions, the money would also be absolutely crucial to his family back home. He also spoke very highly of Shoaib Akhtar and said that his dream was to one day open the bowling for Pakistan with Akhtar.”

From such humble beginnings during the summer of 2003, Asif became one of the most accurate and intelligent bowlers of his generation. 106 test wickets in only 23 matches and a strike rate of a wicket every 48 deliveries tells a story of a bowler who could out think any batsman and bowl deliveries that were unplayable.
Sadly though for every fine performance by Asif on the pitch, there was a controversy off it. It seemed inevitable that Asif would be involved in some sort of controversy at regular intervals and there was never really a lengthy period of calm in Asif’s international career.

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

On 1 November 2006, the PCB handed down a two-year suspension to Shoaib Akhtar and a one-year suspension to Asif, banning them from professional cricket for the duration. Both Asif and Shoaib were added to Pakistan Olympic Association list of doping offenders. The tribunal set to investigate steroid use revealed that Asif had been using a protein supplement, Promax-50.

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."

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.

In the week before the 2007 Twenty20 world cup match in South Africa, Shoaib Akhtar was rumoured to have hit Asif with a bat, leaving a bruise on his left thigh. The two were involved in a dressing room spat which resulted in Asif being struck by a bat on his left thigh.

On June 1, 2008, Asif was detained at Dubai International Airport on suspicion of possessing illegal drugs. An unknown substance was found in Asif's wallet, and was sent for analysis along with a sample of Asif's urine. The PCB appointed a legal counsel to represent Asif, and sent a senior board official to Dubai to handle the case. Asif was withdrawn from Pakistan's squad for the upcoming tri-series in Bangladesh and replaced by newcomer Sohail Khan.

On June 19, 2008, the charges against Asif were dropped by the Dubai public prosecutor due to "insignificance." The prosecutor, Mohammad Al Nuaimi, was quoted as saying, "It is definite that he committed the crime as he was caught red-handed ... however in certain cases and for a faster litigation process the Public Prosecution drops a case due to insignificance and deports the suspect."He was banned from entering UAE ever again.
In July 2008, soon after his return to Pakistan from Dubai, the IPL revealed that a player had tested positive for banned substances during the tournament and on July 14, it was revealed that the player in question was Asif.

Asif protested his innocence]and his lawyer announced that his 'B' sample would be analysed as per WADA regulations, and he was later suspended from all cricket indefinitely by the PCB. He does have the right to appeal his suspension. On February 11, 2009, the IPL confirmed that Asif had tested positive for steroids and subsequently imposed a one year ban on him, ending on September 21, 2009. Shortly before the IPL's announcement, Asif was released of his contract by the Delhi DareDevils.

In addition to the aforementioned, there was the very public spat with actress Veena Malik which once again saw Asif in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

There have been numerous chances for Asif to mend his ways, numerous opportunities to sort out his life, numerous occasions where Asif could have thought about what he was doing and why he was constantly in the headlines for the wrong reasons, but sadly he ignored those opportunities and as a result has thrown away his cricketing career.

If the ban of five years is not reduced then Asif will be 33 years old when he becomes available for Pakistan once again. He is most likely to be well past his best days as a cricketer and will most likely just be a faded memory for Pakistani fans around the world.

Asif's "story" is one that every Pakistani cricketer with dreams of playing for Pakistan should be made to read as an example of how not to "manage your career".

Bob Woolmer said about Asif “He 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.” Looking down upon Asif now, I wonder what “Uncle Bob” would have to say now?