Who is asif iqbal

T20 World cup: For Asif Iqbal, mental strength holds key The former Pakistan captain thinks no team can be considered favourites in the high-voltage clash in Dubai on Sunday. Former Pakistan captain Asif Iqbal. File picture. Indranil Majumdar Calcutta Published But, Asif said, India have the ability to bounce back even if they lose to Pakistan.

He, however, felt franchise cricket is different from international cricket. Download the latest The Telegraph app. Living in a joint-family, cricket was everywhere in the house and young Asif got encouraged by his uncles to take up the game. Childhood dream: Like many a child in India, Asif too dreamt of making a living by playing cricket.

As cricket crazy child, he would say his mother that he would make his living from game. Asif went on to live the dream. In fact, the future Pakistani skipper played against the side while representing South Zone in a tour match.

He dreamt playing for India at this ground. Several years later, in , he played his last international match at the very venue, but as the captain of the Pakistan side.

He received a standing ovation while leaving the field for the last time. Even after three and half decades, it s a memory that Asif still cherishes those moments.

Graduate in history and economics: Cricketers who turned up for Pakistan in the past years were a breed of extremes. While few didn t manage to get the basic education, few had a cabinet full of medals and degrees. Asif belonged to the latter category. Asif continued his cricket and was a swing bowler, who could bat a bit.

In , he made his Test debut against Australia at Karachi. To look at him is to sense the unusual — an eager man of deeds and action. Many fine words and phrases were used in praise of his innings against England at The Oval — that amalgam of pure batting genius and joyous cheek — but it needs his own simple explanation to uncover his character and philosophy.

Everyone seemed to accept that it was already over. I wanted my team to be spared from taking part in an exhibition. The whole situation made me all the more anxious and determined to succeed.

The facts ought to have daunted even Asif, who is fast becoming a specialist in the impossible. When he went in to bat at Soon it was 65 for eight. The next three hours and ten minutes scarcely belonged to reality and certainly not to setting of a modern Test.

Asif made , the highest score by a No. It might be a consoling thought for the bowlers of England that the same pair scored in 38 minutes against Queensland at Brisbane in November, Asif Iqbal in action during the World Cup.

Pakistan, it is true, still lost, but not by an innings, for Asif, though now with an ankle injury, dismissed Cowdrey and Close and had Amiss missed before England scrambled gratefully home by eight wickets. The stigma and sting of victory were engulfed in a wave of excitement and admiration.

Yet cricket ought to have been prepared for something astonishing from Asif. Indeed his whole career seems to have been a rehearsal for the grand performance at The Oval. Asif Iqbal, born on June 6, , was an India-born and raised cricketer who went on to captain Pakistan in two World Cups.

Jaideep Vaidya goes through the career of the stylish bowler-turned batsman-turned-pioneer. By the time his family made the move, Iqbal had already made a name for himself in the Hyderabad cricketing circles. Iqbal hailed from a family that had cricket running in its veins. His uncle was former India off-spinner Ghulam Ahmed , while many of his other uncles also played First-Class cricket. Iqbal began his career as an opening swing bowler.

Making his Test debut against Australia at Karachi in , Iqbal opened the bowling for Pakistan and batted at No For the first three years of his career, he was primarily a bowler who could bat a bit. He scored 76, sharing a run stand with Hanif Mohammad not out as Pakistan went on to avoid the follow-on and drew the Test. Put into bat, Pakistan were skittled for in the first innings, before England scored a handsome In the second innings, the Pakistani batsmen managed to perform even worse and, at 53 for seven, were heading towards an innings defeat.

The match seemed bound to finish before lunch on Day Three as Pakistan still needed to make England bat again. Together with Intikhab Alam , Iqbal frustrated England to the wall.