Pakistan pacers are 17-18 solely on paper, they’re 27-28 in actuality: Mohammad Asif

The Pakistan cricket staff’s present pacers are 9 to 10 years older than what their delivery certificates recommend, alleged former seamer Mohammad Asif, hitting out at their “inability” to bowl lengthy spells.
Asif’s remarks got here within the wake of Pakistan’s 101-run defeat in opposition to New Zealand within the first Test in Mount Maunganui this week.
“They are so aged. It is written as 17-18 years on paper, but they are actually 27-28 years old,” Asif mentioned on his compatriot Kamran Akmal’s YouTube channel however didn’t take any names.
“They don’t have the flexibility to bowl 20-25 overs. They don’t know how to bend the body and they become stiff after a while. They are not able to stand on the field after bowling a 5-6 over spell,” he added.
One of the best seamers of his time, Asif’s profession in aggressive cricket got here to an finish after he was banned by the ICC for 5 years for indulging within the 2010 spot-fixing scandal in England.
His days as Pakistan cricketer lengthy gone, Asif is disenchanted by the current crop of quick bowlers within the nationwide staff, which was as soon as dominated by legends reminiscent of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Imran Khan.
“I feel it might have been 5-6 years since a fast bowler took 10 wickets in a match. We used to salivate after seeing the pitches like the ones in New Zealand. There was no question of leaving the ball as a fast bowler. I never used to leave the ball before taking a five-wicket haul.”
The 38-year-old, who had shaped a potent pairing with pace service provider Shoaib Akhtar throughout his time in top-flight, added that right now’s pacers lack the information to check the batsmen.
“These kids do not have the knowledge. They don’t know how to keep the batsmen on the front foot, not give them a single and how to bowl on the wickets. When they try to bowl on the wickets, it goes down the leg-side. They do not have the control,” Asif mentioned.
Among the present lot of Pakistan pacers doing obligation in New Zealand, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah are 20 and 17-year-old respectively. Mohammad Abbas is 30 and Faheem Ashraf is 26.
Age fraud has been one of many points troubling Pakistan cricket for a few years.
The second Test in opposition to New Zealand will start at Christchurch from Sunday.