58:Mohammad Asif &
Former Pakistan bowler Mohammad Asif has questioned England’s bowling strategy against Rishabh Pant. Asif feels Pant wasn’t tested enough on the first day of the fifth Test between India and England where the wicket-keeper scored a scintillating century.
Pant had a typical counter-attacking knock of 146 off just 111 balls as he rescued India from 98/5. The keeper was batting along with Ravindra Jadeja, and built a record-breaking 222 runs partnership for the 6th wicket, turning the tables in India’s favour.
While speaking in a video on Twitter, Asif said, “It was totally England bowlers’ fault as Pant did no wonders. He [Pant] has technical faults. His left hand doesn’t work but still, he managed to score a century because English bowlers didn’t bowl to him in his weak areas."
"I will not name individuals but England made a lot of mistakes. When Jadeja and Pant were batting, they brought in a left-arm spinner who wasn’t an ideal option to bowl at that moment”, he further added.
I am not against Pant: Asif
He then spoke about former India captain Virat Kohli’s continuous struggles as he hasn’t scored a century over the last three years. Asif believes Kohli needs to work harder on his technique. “I am not against Pant, but with such decisions by the opposition, you get an edge to score big.”
“I pointed out Kohli’s technical fault a couple of years ago but people started calling me out. See today (Friday), he hasn’t scored a century for a long time now. I love watching Kohli and even he is a big player than me. But technically, he needs to work harder,” Asif added.
I mean talent wasted no doubt: Akram
Mohammad Asif was one of the fiercest emerging fast bowlers in world cricket. But he was involved in a match-fixing incident because of which he was banned from international cricket. Recently, former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram also talked about the wasted talent of Asif on a video on YouTube.
He said, “Everyone raves about Mohammad Asif. I mean talent wasted no doubt. Whoever I talk to...that kind of bowler I saw after a long time. Jis tareeke se control karta tha ball ko. He could swing both ways. It's very unfortunate for him and of course for Pakistan too."