What next for Asif and Butt?
The return of the tainted duo along with Mohammad Amir has divided opinion among cricketers
Butt will be hoping to return to the international fold but may find it more difficult than the others considering the competition for places. PHOTO: AFP
Five years is a long time in cricket. More than a quarter of an entire international career before the pressure and demands at the highest level tires the mind and the body.
Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have spent five long years in the wilderness but the ICC has offered them a new lease on life by waiving off their suspended sentences — giving them the green signal to resume their cricketing careers.
The return of the tainted duo along with Mohammad Amir has divided opinion among cricketers, pundits and fans.
Some feel that the players should be banished for good from the cricketing fold; an example must be set in order to steer the new generation as far away as possible from the menace of fixing.
Others feel that after serving their jail sentence and the ICC ban, the players deserve a second chance — their talent and skills in the game must be utilised again.
The debate on the morality of the expected return of the trio is not expected to stop any time soon. On the flip side at least Butt, Asif and even Amir are no more certain selections as they were for Pakistan during their heydays.
Read: Muhammad Asif ready to face fans' abuse on return
The Greenshirts have expanded their players’ base in recent months and competition is fiercer than it has been for years. We explore the career statistics of Butt and Asif, and ponder if they can return to the top level again.
Salman Butt
Butt captained Pakistan in that infamous Test against England at Lord’s in 2010. The game was his 33rd in the longest format. He averaged 30.46 with the bat but had a happy knack of scoring against tough oppositions in their own backyards. Butt scored two centuries in Australia in two lost causes at Sydney and Hobart, while his third was against England during the famous Multan 2005 jailbreak win.
His ODI record is as impressive as any Pakistan opener’s. Against India he amassed 1,193 runs in only 21 appearances with five centuries at an average of 52.11 against the arch-rivals. His overall figures read: 78 matches, 2,725 runs, and eight centuries at 36.82 per innings.
At present, Pakistan seem to have sorted out their opening woes in all formats. Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood and Mohammad Hafeez have all made meaningful contributions in Tests and are expected to hold their slots for at least the next season.
In the ODI format too, Hafeez, Shehzad and Azhar Ali have performed well in recent months, and, as backups, Pakistan possess the uninhibited aggression and stroke play of Mukhtar Ahmed and Nauman Anwar.
Butt’s chances of reappearing at the international level are further dampened due to his deportation from England — the southpaw cannot travel to the UK before 2022. Pakistan have a full tour of England next year while the 2017 Champions Trophy will be staged there as well.
Mohammad Asif
Asif will turn 33 in December. Before the Lord’s Test, Asif had left an indelible mark on the game; hailed as one of the best new-ball bowlers in the longest format. The seamer had metronomic control, swinging and seaming the ball in both directions at will. He toppled the best in the business in several match-winning spells against India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England in his 23-match career that yielded 106 scalps at an average of 24.36.
Read: Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif allowed to play cricket after September 1
His ODI and T20 returns — 38 ODIs, 48 wickets, 11 T20s, 13 wickets pale in comparison. Asif’s main strength in Tests was his astounding ability of probing in the proverbial ‘corridor of uncertainty’ outside the off-stump.
Pakistan have struggled to find a bowler of Asif’s calibre, especially in Test cricket. The current pack boasts Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil but they are all injury prone. Wahab, Imran and Rahat have delivered on occasions with the red ball but are still a far way away from emulating Asif’s impact.
The question though is whether Asif has anything left in his tank. At 33 he would need to work hard on his fitness and bowl long spells in domestic cricket if he harbours hopes of wearing the whites of Pakistan again.
Asif though has an economical and repetitive bowling action that never seemed to tire him. Perhaps that alone is his greatest asset and one that can help him regain his touch faster than his detractors want him to.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2015.
Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif have spent five long years in the wilderness but the ICC has offered them a new lease on life by waiving off their suspended sentences — giving them the green signal to resume their cricketing careers.
The return of the tainted duo along with Mohammad Amir has divided opinion among cricketers, pundits and fans.
Some feel that the players should be banished for good from the cricketing fold; an example must be set in order to steer the new generation as far away as possible from the menace of fixing.
Others feel that after serving their jail sentence and the ICC ban, the players deserve a second chance — their talent and skills in the game must be utilised again.
The debate on the morality of the expected return of the trio is not expected to stop any time soon. On the flip side at least Butt, Asif and even Amir are no more certain selections as they were for Pakistan during their heydays.
Read: Muhammad Asif ready to face fans' abuse on return
The Greenshirts have expanded their players’ base in recent months and competition is fiercer than it has been for years. We explore the career statistics of Butt and Asif, and ponder if they can return to the top level again.
Salman Butt
Butt captained Pakistan in that infamous Test against England at Lord’s in 2010. The game was his 33rd in the longest format. He averaged 30.46 with the bat but had a happy knack of scoring against tough oppositions in their own backyards. Butt scored two centuries in Australia in two lost causes at Sydney and Hobart, while his third was against England during the famous Multan 2005 jailbreak win.
His ODI record is as impressive as any Pakistan opener’s. Against India he amassed 1,193 runs in only 21 appearances with five centuries at an average of 52.11 against the arch-rivals. His overall figures read: 78 matches, 2,725 runs, and eight centuries at 36.82 per innings.
At present, Pakistan seem to have sorted out their opening woes in all formats. Ahmed Shehzad, Shan Masood and Mohammad Hafeez have all made meaningful contributions in Tests and are expected to hold their slots for at least the next season.
In the ODI format too, Hafeez, Shehzad and Azhar Ali have performed well in recent months, and, as backups, Pakistan possess the uninhibited aggression and stroke play of Mukhtar Ahmed and Nauman Anwar.
Butt’s chances of reappearing at the international level are further dampened due to his deportation from England — the southpaw cannot travel to the UK before 2022. Pakistan have a full tour of England next year while the 2017 Champions Trophy will be staged there as well.
Mohammad Asif
Asif will turn 33 in December. Before the Lord’s Test, Asif had left an indelible mark on the game; hailed as one of the best new-ball bowlers in the longest format. The seamer had metronomic control, swinging and seaming the ball in both directions at will. He toppled the best in the business in several match-winning spells against India, Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England in his 23-match career that yielded 106 scalps at an average of 24.36.
Read: Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif allowed to play cricket after September 1
His ODI and T20 returns — 38 ODIs, 48 wickets, 11 T20s, 13 wickets pale in comparison. Asif’s main strength in Tests was his astounding ability of probing in the proverbial ‘corridor of uncertainty’ outside the off-stump.
Pakistan have struggled to find a bowler of Asif’s calibre, especially in Test cricket. The current pack boasts Wahab Riaz, Imran Khan, Rahat Ali and Ehsan Adil but they are all injury prone. Wahab, Imran and Rahat have delivered on occasions with the red ball but are still a far way away from emulating Asif’s impact.
The question though is whether Asif has anything left in his tank. At 33 he would need to work hard on his fitness and bowl long spells in domestic cricket if he harbours hopes of wearing the whites of Pakistan again.
Asif though has an economical and repetitive bowling action that never seemed to tire him. Perhaps that alone is his greatest asset and one that can help him regain his touch faster than his detractors want him to.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2015.