Mohammad Abbas: “McGrath and Asif were not bowlers with 150 kph pace”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mohammad Abbas said fellow Pakistan pace bowler Mohammad Abbas didn’t bowl at 150 kph, but was able to take a lot of wickets.
Asif is regarded as one of the toughest bowlers Pakistan ever produced as he swung the ball both ways and caused problems for many of the top batsmen in the world.
South Africa’s Hashim Amla, England’s Kevin Pietersen and India’s Robin Uthappa have all praised the 41-year-old, saying he is the most difficult bowler they faced.
AB de Villiers, one of South Africa’s greatest-ever batsmen, even went as far as saying that he would pick the Sheikhupura native to bowl for his life as he was “unplayable” with the new ball.
In addition to Asif, Abbas pointed out that iconic Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath reached incredible heights despite not bowling with express pace.
“McGrath and Asif were not bowlers with 150 kph pace,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Abbas last played international cricket in August 2021 and has since regularly represented Hampshire in the County Championship, where he has become one of their key bowlers.
In the recent county season, he finished with 36 wickets in 11 matches at an average of 24.25.
During that time, Abbas surpassed 700 first-class wickets and currently has 710 wickets to his name in 180 games at an average of 20.90.
The Sialkot native didn’t feature in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a 50-over tournament held in Faisalabad.
However, he did take part in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) competition and picked up six wickets in four games for the State Bank of Pakistan at an average of 37.50.
Abbas wasn’t picked for Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, which the men in green lost 2-0.
He is also not part of the squad for the ongoing three-match Test series against England, which is tied at 1-1.
The third Test will begin on October 24 in Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 2nd and 3rd Tests against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Zahid Mahmood.
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