KARACHI, April 28: Although Pakistan cricket has generally been blessed with a rich history of fast bowling talent it is the appropriate moment that makes all the difference. As the preparations are afoot for the ICC Champions Trophy in June, one name certain to make the 15-man Pakistan squad is that of paceman Asad Ali.
The 24-year-old right-armer has gradually emerged as a star in the making during the domestic season with no less than 103 wickets in all formats — 61 of them in the first-class competitions President’s Trophy Grade-I event and Quaid-i-Azam Trophy National Cricket Championship, while playing a pivotal role in Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) winning two titles and Faisalabad Wolves the Super Eight T20 Cup. The knee injury to Umar Gul has played a significant role in elevating Asad as the most suitable replacement for Pakistan’s key strike weapon.
Asad, who hails from Sargodha but plays for Faisalabad and the SNGPL, has been one of the 20-odd pace bowlers attending the Ufone-PCB King of Speed camp which has set up at the National Stadium under the guidance of former Pakistan skipper Wasim Akram, arguably the greatest left-arm fast bowler in the game’s history, with national team’s current bowling coach Mohammad Akram also lending a helping hand.
In an exclusive interview with Dawn, the amiable Asad disclosed that it was a dream come true to be given tips by a legend as such as Wasim Akram. The 10-day training camp has been a timely blessing in disguise for all the trainees since it had changed their thoughts and outlook on the game.
“Previously we just used to do the basics and play cricket accordingly. This [training] camp will obviously make me a much better bowler than I have been since I started playing first-class cricket. It has been a great privilege to learn from a man who I always wanted to meet and express my thoughts with,” Asad said. “Wasim is someone I idolised from a very young age and is one of my role models alongside [great Australian fast bowler] Glenn McGrath and [ex-Pakistan seamer] Shahid Nazir.
“Mohammad Akram, as always, had been extremely helpful in improving our skills. From my personal view, I can say with conviction my bowling has improved by 80 per cent at least while learning the subtleties of pace bowling from both Wasim and Akram.”
Asad was wholesome in expressing his gratitude to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for taking the initiative. “As a participant I wouldn’t have dreamt of being invited to attend a training camp confined for fast bowlers. But the way the board has come forward in launching this exercise is very commendable. The step taken by the cricket board cannot be described in few words because we just can’t ask for more because most of us are attending such a camp for the first time. I sincerely hope that such camps should be regularly organised to ensure there is always a good crop of fast bowlers for the future Pakistan teams.”
When asked how he fell in love with the sport, Asad narrated: “As a young kid I wanted to play cricket and yearned to be a fast bowler. While studying at Govt Central Model School [in Sargodha], my teacher Zafar Iqbal who also used to be my coach taught me the basics of cricket. Later on, my close friends Arshad Bhatti [sadly no longer alive] and Chaudhry Saad offered a lot of support and encouraged me to achieve my ambitions.
“I was then spotted by Aamir Sohail when I attended the regional academy in Rawalpindi in 2003-04 before making first-class debut in 2005-06. From then onwards it has been a long grind. The first time I got picked in the national squad was when the Pakistan Under-25 toured Maldives in Oct/Nov 20011 and won the Saarc Twenty20 Cup when we beat Sri Lanka in the final at Fuvahmulah.”
Asad, who stands six feet tall and is fifth among eight siblings, clarified that he was born in Sargodha and not Faisalabad as mentioned in several websites. “It may not matter a lot but it would be nice the record is set straight.”
He emphasises that whatever he has achieved so far in his career is just the beginning and says that he owes a lot to his regional and department team-mate Samiullah Khan Niazi, the left-arm seamer who played in two One-day Internationals against Zimbabwe in early 2008.
“Sami and I are very close. We live in the same neighbourhood in Sargodha and have always enjoyed bowling together whether playing for Faisalabad or the SNGPL. This year I turned down the offer to play in the Staffordshire league [Asad bagged 212 wickets in three seasons] but requested the club to sign on Sami and which they did.”
Asked to reveal his future plans, Asad, who has claimed 355 wickets in 78 first-class matches and another 141 scalps in 86 limited-overs games, was candid in saying that he wants to serve Pakistan cricket with dignity and make a name for himself and the country. “The goal is to give my best for Pakistan and earn the respect we deserve as a nation. Personally, I don’t mind which form of the game I play, but my personal liking is for Test cricket because that is the ultimate test for a cricketer. Because then only people would judge how good are you.”—Khalid H. Khan