Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja, while commentating on the first day of the second Test against England at Lord’s, recalled a prediction made by former coach late Bob Woolmer about Mohammad Asif before the pacer had played for Pakistan.
According to Ramiz, he first met Asif in the presence of Woolmer at a time when the young bowler had not yet played a match for Pakistan. Woolmer introduced Asif to Ramiz and predicted that he would go on to become a great bowler. Ramiz recalled asking Woolmer about Asif’s bowling speed. Woolmer told him that Asif was bowling at around 130 kilometres per hour at the time.
“I was surprised because Pakistan had always been known for producing fast bowlers,” Ramiz said, recalling his reaction. “I wondered how he could become a fast bowler at that pace,” Ramiz said. Asif eventually established himself as an outstanding bowler through his exceptional line and length, despite not bowling at the high speeds traditionally associated with Pakistani fast bowlers.
He recalled that Pakistan’s bowling attacks had traditionally relied heavily on pace, with bowlers regularly operating around the 90mph mark. “Reverse swing, yorkers and bouncers at around 95mph were the basic weapons of our bowling,” Ramiz said. He added that Pakistani bowlers of his era rarely relied solely on consistent line and length. Instead, they adopted an aggressive approach designed to give opposing batsmen little opportunity to settle. “We used to play all the time aggressively and try to destroy opposition teams with sheer pace,” he said.
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