Mohammad Asif: “I would love to speak to Amir to let him know what he needs to work on”
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Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Asif has revealed that he is eager to speak to left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir about what he needs to work on in order to rediscover his form with the ball.
Amir has struggled to take wickets as of late, especially in ODIs, where he has taken just three wickets since the Champions Trophy final.
To make matters worse, he went wicketless during the recent Asia Cup. As a result of this, he was dropped for the Test series against Australia and the ongoing Twenty20 series as well.
Asif admitted that some of the advice Amir may have got and the adjustments he has been told to make to his bowling action may be responsible for his lack of wickets.
“I have noted some slight changes in Amir’s bowling action in recent times which is why he is not getting that swing that he used to get before,” Asif was quoted as saying by Sky Sports. “I would love to speak to Amir to let him know what he needs to work on but the highly-paid coaches that the Pakistan side employs should be the ones advising Amir on these issues not me.
“It’s the job of the bowling coach of the team to work with Amir and say: ‘Look, we have some free time now, let’s try and improve your bowling’ but that is not happening.”
Asif added that Amir has to work harder to fix the flaws in his bowling action if he wants to re-establish himself as an elite fast bowler.
“What is clear to me about Amir is that he needs to work harder so that he either becomes an express fast bowler or can get the swing back into his bowling,” he said. “What I have seen from him in recent times is a bowler who was trying to bowl to stay safe and not to attack the batsman. This puts pressure on the back-up bowlers and that cannot be good for the team.
“There is no doubt that he bowled really well in the Champions Trophy final where he got a lot of swing which he has not been able to repeat. This is a point to ponder for Amir and for him to ask himself why he is unable to get that swing in his bowling. He will need to do that before it’s too late.
“I want him to be the attacking bowler he once was and not the defensive bowler he has been turned into.”