NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Pakistan bowling prospect Mohammad Asif is perfectly happy to hear people comparing him to the great Australian paceman Glenn McGrath.

“I feel no pressure to be regarded as having similarities with McGrath, rather it is a motivating factor, an inspiration,” the 23-year-old told reporters on Tuesday.

Like McGrath, who probes the best of batsmen with his metronomic accuracy and movement rather than pace alone, Asif relies on precision to take wickets.

The Pakistani, however, is a relatively new face on the international stage, but one with potential.

“I can bowl faster, but I'd rather focus on taking advantage of the pitch,” added Asif, who is in India for the Champions Trophy.

Pakistan open their campaign on Oct 17 against a qualifier.

“If it is a seaming track, why focus on pace when one can use the seam for lateral movement? But if is an unresponsive track that offers no movement, I am capable of bowling all-out pace,” he said.

“He (McGrath) always bowls in the right areas, something I have modelled myself on.”

Asif burst into prominence when he took seven wickets in the deciding final Test against India at Karachi earlier this year.

Asif followed that up with 17 wickets in two Tests on the tour of Sri Lanka in March-April that won him the player of the series award and Pakistan a 1-0 victory.

Expectations were high when he went on the recent tour of England but an elbow injury limited his playing time to just the final Test.

Asif took five wickets in the forfeited Oval match, but proved that he was a bowler to watch with some fine spells in the drawn one-day series.

Pakistan's senior paceman Shoaib Akhtar, however, cautioned that it was too early to compare Asif with McGrath.

“Asif has a long way to go, has a lot more to prove and McGrath is in the 400-plus wicket bracket,” Shoaib said.

“He is a good bowler, who bowled well in seaming conditions. But he has to prove himself in India, where he will require more variation.”—Reuters