AB de Villiers: “When I was 22 to 27, Mohammad Asif was all over me”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
AB de Villiers, the legendary South Africa batsman, has admitted that former Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Asif “was all over me” and caused him big problems when he was batting.
He noted that specifically when he was between the ages of 22 and 27, his batting skills were always put to the test when he battled against Asif.
Asif is renowned for being one of Pakistan’s most threatening bowlers as he maintained an impeccable line and length and could swing the ball a long way.
Previously, De Villiers had said that if he had to choose one bowler to bowl for his life, he would have picked Asif as he was unplayable.
“When I was 22 to 27, Mohammad Asif was all over me,” the Proteas great said in a video posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Asif represented Pakistan in 23 Tests and took 106 wickets at an average of 24.36.
He also picked up 46 wickets in 38 ODIs at an average of 33.13.
As for his T20I career, the 40-year-old from Sheikhupura finished with 13 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 26.38.
The Pakistan team have been in solid form lately as they whitewashed Sri Lanka 2-0 in a Test series before beating Afghanistan 3-0 in an ODI series.
Most recently, they featured in the Asia Cup and began with a 238-run win over Nepal before sharing one point apiece with India as their match was abandoned due to rain.
Despite this, the men in green made it to the Super Four stage and beat Bangladesh by seven wickets.
Everything went wrong for them from here as they lost to India by 228 runs and Sri Lanka by two wickets via the Duckworth–Lewis–Stern method (DLS) method, which led to them missing out on a spot in the Asia Cup final.
Pakistan will now feature in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup in India, which gets underway on October 5.
Their first game will be against the Netherlands on October 6 in Hyderabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali