KARACHI: Former Pakistani sprinter Shoaib Akhtar praised his counterpart Mohammad Asif, calling the latter a magician.
In an interview, with an Indian website Times of HindustanAkhtar recalled the series of nail-biting tests between the two arch-rivals, Pakistan and India, revealing how Asif made him look like an ordinary bowler.
“The way Asif caught the Indian team… I’ve never seen a magician like him. He made me look like a very ordinary fast bowler. I remember him bowling in the 2006 test match against India. He threw an inswinger at Laxman and was eliminated. I said, ‘What a coincidence! It happens once or twice.’ He responded by saying, ‘I’ll fire him the exact same way in the next few innings.’ It didn’t swing that much on that delivery but it was exactly the same, he also sewed and Laxman was gone,” Akhtar told the Hindustan Times.
Akhtar further praised Asif, stating that the latter’s caliber was the same as the legendary pacemaker Wasim Akram.
It is pertinent to mention here that Asif’s seven wickets in the Karachi Test propelled Pakistan to defeat India by 341 runs in the third and final Test to win the series 1-0. The two previous Tests were drawn.
