‘Shoaib Akhtar and I looked at that Indian team and said to each other ‘how will we get them out’’: Mohammad Asif recollects Karachi Test 2006

Former Pakistan quick bowler Mohammad Asif regarded again on the 2006 Karachi Test in opposition to India, revealing how he and former teammate Shoaib Akhtar have been fearful realising the batting energy of the opposition. India had toured Pakistan for 3 Tests and 7 ODIs in January-February of 2006, and heading into the third Test at Karachi, the sequence was levelled at 0-0 with the primary two matches in Lahore and Faisalabad ending in a draw. Also Read | ‘This thing used to be the art of Pakistanis’: Shoaib Akhtar explains why Jasprit Bumrah goes to be the ‘most unusual but great fast bowler’Asif, enjoying solely this third Test, picked up seven wickets within the match to assist Pakistan hammer India by 341 runs. It was a crew that boasted the Fab Five of Indian cricket – Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman.“No doubt it was a great feeling. It was such a batting-heavy team. I remember when Shoaib bhai and I looked at the team sheet, he was like ‘who all are we going to get out’. At No 7 or 8 was Dhoni,” Asif instructed Kamran Akmal on the latter’s YouTube channel.Also Read | Pakistan captain Babar Azam dominated out of second New Zealand Test“We looked at the line up and we said ‘how are we going to get them out’. Because I think all these players across formats would have combined to score a lakh or 1.5 lakh runs between them. Everyone had at least 15-20K runs.”The Karachi Test holds a particular place within the annals of Pakistan cricket and a few of their best wins. Batting first, Pakistan have been decreased to 0/3 with former India fast Irfan Pathan claiming a hat-trick within the first over of the match. Yet, Pakistan ended up scoring 245 within the first innings courtesy a counter-attacking century from Akmal at No. 8. Asif wrecked the Indian batting claiming 4/78 within the first innings and three/48 within the second. The former quick bowler credited Akhtar, saying he set the match up for Asif to take cost of issues.Also Read | ‘An 8th-ranked team beat India in the final’: Hasan Ali recollects Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy win“Shoaib bhai I remember had bowled to the Indian batsmen with a lot of pace. He had started bowling those deadly bouncers, full of pace from Faisalabad itself,” Asif recalled. “And I took advantage of it. Because of his bouncers, Indian players were playing on the backfoot and since I pitched the ball forward, they were in two minds. He was extremely quick in that match. He couldn’t get wickets but he set the stage for my wickets.”