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Cricket PlayersI took wickets of Dravid, Yuvraj, Sehwag & Sachin: Asif credits 2006 Karachi Test for putting his career on 'right path'
Mohammad Asif recalled the 2006 Karachi Test against India and said that his performance in that particular game put him in the spotlight.
Mohammed Asif was considered as one of the lethal pace bowlers in Pakistan’s arsenal until his career was marred with a 7-year ban due to his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal. After making his international debut in 2005, the former right-arm quick picked up 106 wickets in 23 Tests and 46 scalps in 38 ODIs. He also represented Pakistan in 11 T20Is and picked 13 wickets before his career was cut short. Once he was banned from playing cricket, he never managed to come back into the international set-up.
In a recent interview with PakPassion.com, Asif spoke about getting recognised in the cricketing world during the early days of his career. The former cricketer recalled the 2006 Karachi Test against India and said that his performance in that particular game put him in the spotlight.
“There were plenty of memorable moments in my career, but the match that I feel was vital for me and put me on the right path in my international career was when I took 7 wickets in just my third Test match in 2006 against India in Karachi, and which helped Pakistan win by 341 runs,” Asif was quoted as saying.
“Prior to this Test match I had played 2 Tests and had bowled poorly, taking only 1 wicket and the knives were already out despite being only 23 years old and many felt that I wasn’t good enough for international cricket. During that match in Karachi, I took the wickets of Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman twice, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar. I feel that this was the match where I showed everyone what I was capable of and when the world realised that Mohammad Asif had arrived,” he added.
It was the same Test match in which former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan had picked up a hat-trick in the opening over. India elected to bowl and dismissed the hosts for 245. But the Younis Khan-led Pakistan team bounced back in the second innings and set a mammoth 607-run target for the visitors to chase. In reply, Yuvraj Singh slammed a 144-ball 122 but that wasn’t enough to win the game. Rahul Dravid-led Team India was bowled out for 265 and lost the game by 341 runs.
