Former star batsman Kevin Pietersen has claimed that many batsmen were happy when Pakistan bowler Mohammad Asif got banned from international cricket.
Asif Is The Best Bowler I Faced: Pietersen
Pietersen has been active on social media these days as all the cricketing events have been suspended due to the corona pandemic. He has been entertaining fans by commenting on various things related to cricket and has been interacting with them and other players.
Pietersen also praised the tainted bowler as the best bowler he played against. The former English batsman shared a video clip on his Twitter where Asif dismissed him for a duck.
Pietersen wrote on his Twitter alongside the clip,” “I think there are plenty batters around the world that were happy he got banned! He was the best I faced! I had no idea against him!”
I think there’s plenty batters around the world that were happy he got banned!
He was the best I faced!
I had no idea against him! https://t.co/AoN2xN2oX1— Kevin Pietersen🦏 (@KP24) April 13, 2020
The clip was from a Test match from 2006. In the match, Asif bowled him for zero runs with a delivery that swung late which drew an edge from Pietersen and was caught by wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal.
Asif along with other Pakistan cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir was banned from the game in 2011 after they were caught in a spot-fixing scandal.
He was sentenced for a ban of 7 years which ended his career. Before the ban, he played in 23 Tests where he took 106 wickets at an economy of 3. He often troubled even the best batsmen with swing and pace.
The Ban Has Ended Asif’s Scandalous Career
In limited-overs cricket, he played 38 One-day Internationals (ODIs) and 11 T20 International (T20I) games.
He claimed 46 wickets in ODIs and 13 wickets in T20 Internationals. He even appeared in the inaugural season of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 where he played 8 games for Deccan Chargers.
While Mohammad Amir who was banned for 5 years for his involvement in the scandal made a comeback in 2016 into international cricket Asif’s career came to an inglorious end.
