Home
Cricket News
There Is Nepotism At Domestic Level In Pakistan Cricket Mohammad Asif

There is nepotism at domestic level in Pakistan Cricket: Mohammad Asif

Tainted Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif has said that there is an existence of nepotism in the domestic circuit and added that the players with no notable performance were continuously given chances.

“After participating in domestic cricket after my return I realised that there was a lot of favouritism and nepotism at play. Players were being picked based on who they knew rather than how good they were. Guys who were scoring 25 runs per innings were being labelled as great hopes and heroes. Bowlers with no performances were being given chance after chance, it was depressing and I knew people were trying to drop a hint to me to give up playing,” Asif was quoted as saying by HT via PakPassion.

He further added that after his ban was over, Asif wanted to return back to cricket while also thinking about alternate roles such as coaching.

“I wanted to continue playing, but I started to think about alternatives to playing and focussed on coaching and I was asked to go to Afghanistan for a coaching stint with their young pace bowlers in 2016. However, the security situation meant that I had to decline the offer which was unfortunate as I was really looking forward to working with those youngsters,” he added.

The right-arm bowler was one of the three Pakistan players apart from the then captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir to be slapped with a ban for being involved in a spot-fixing scandal in England in the year 2010.

He was banned for 7 years. Asif made his international debut for Pakistan in 2005 and picked up 106 wickets in 23 Tests and had 46 scalps to his name in 38 ODIs. The seamer was also capped 11 times in the shortest format and bagged 13 wickets during the course.

He hasn't made a return to the Pakistan national side since getting banned.

Discover more

Mohammad Asif

Cat litter on practise wickets - Devon Conway's unique method to counter Ravichandran Ashwin

Yet to make his Test debut, new Black Caps sensation Devon Conway is of the opinion that practicing with the Dukes cricket ball back in New Zealand will help them immensely as they face the challenge of England in a two match Test series ahead of the ICC World Test Championship final against India in Southampton. The two match Test series against England will serve as a perfect preparation the Kiwis ahead of one of their biggest match in Test history. “That was very beneficial for us, you know, having that opportunity to play amongst the Dukes ball, get to learn how it works, and try and formulate a game plan, how to go about things,” Conway said in a press interaction online. “But yeah, I think not a lot changes. You know, we understand that the Dukes ball does swing a little bit more than what the Kookaburra does, but you know, you've just got to face the ball and come up with a game plan and stick by it,” Conway further added. The two-match Test series against England starts on 2nd June with the Test Championship final slated to be held against India at Southampton starting from 18th June. Conway who is included in the 20 man squad is among the three uncapped players chosen for the tour. The stylish left-handed batsman stated that the camp back in Lincoln with the Dukes ball rather than the Kookaburra which New Zealand usually uses at home was ideal. Conway is leaving no stones unturned and is making sure that he is well equipped to the Indian spinners if he does get a chance in the Test Championship final. The southpaw sprinkled cat litter on practice wickets to ensure that roughs are created which might help him in countering the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the all-important final. With some big names in the New Zealand ranks, Conway is hoping to gather as much experience from proven campaigners like Tom Latham and Ross Taylor. “It has been a massive learning curve for me, in terms of how the protocols are all set in place, and just trying to adhere through all that. You know, just seeing the guys being around the group for an extended period, it's been fun. And, yeah, a lot of memories created already in the short period,” Conway said. “In the Test setup, the guys have been here for a very long time. So you know, it’s good to sort of learn from the experience of players that have been at this level, they've been playing at this level for a long period,” the left-handed batsman further added. Playing in England is always a challenging ask for any foreigner. It’s never easy to adjust to the cold weather and adjusting to the conditions is a challenge in itself feels Conway. “It’s about adapting to the lower degrees. I think that’s a slight challenge in itself but I think, you know, once the body acclimatised to that, it’s about just really understanding what you want to do and not overcomplicate things,” Conway concluded.

BAN vs SL: 1st ODI goes ahead despite Covid-19 scare in both teams

The first ODI between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh was under dark clouds after three members of the Lankan contingent had tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday. But the fixture is going ahead as scheduled after two of them returned negative tests on Sunday while the third member tested positive for the second time for the disease. But his returning positive for the second time is described ‘normal’ by the team doctor according to a ESPNCricinfo report. It is understood that he had Covid-19 over the past few months and has returned positive. Sri Lanka are scheduled to play a three-match ODI series in Bangladesh beginning from Sunday (May 23) in Dhaka. The two other matches will also take place at the same venue on Tuesday and Friday respectively. Shiran Fernando, Chaminda Vaas and Isuru Udana too had tested positive for Covid-19. While Fernando hasn’t shown any symptoms but will still remain in the isolation, Vaas and Udana had returned negative test from the samples collected on May 22.

Wriddhiman Saha feels UAE would have been a safer option for IPL 14

Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha who recently recovered from COVID-19 took an indirect dig at the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for conducting the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in India. During an interview with PTI, Saha said that the bio-bubble in UAE for the previous edition was much more foolproof than the one held in India. He also became the first cricketer to publicly come out and criticise BCCI. “It’s the job of the stakeholders to assess it, but the only thing I would say is that there was not a single individual during our training in UAE (last year), not even a ground staff. Here there would be people, kids peeping from nearby walls. I don’t want to comment much but we saw how the IPL went off smoothly in UAE in 2020 and then it started in India this year with cases on the rise,” Saha was quoted as saying by PTI. One of the finest wicket-keepers of the modern generation, Saha added that like the previous year, even this year’s tournament should have been held in UAE. “I don’t know what would have happened, but definitely I feel it would have been better off in UAE this time as well. It’s for the stakeholders to look into it,” Saha further added. The 14th edition of the tournament was being held under strict bio-security bubbles. Despite stringent measures, the deadly virus breached the bio-bubbles and the tournament had to be suspended indefinitely after cases were reported inside the bubbles among players and officials. Saha who was part of the Sunrisers Hyderabad tested positive for the virus on May 4, the day when the tournament was eventually disrupted. Out of the 60 scheduled games, only 29 games were played. With hardly any windows in between to conduct the rest of the IPL, BCCI faces a humungous task ahead of them to complete the tournament. If the tournament remains incomplete, the BCCI could incur huge losses.

Andre Russell retained by Jamaica Tallawahs despite his stern words last season

Flamboyant Caribbean all-rounder Andre Russell has been retained by Jamaica Tallawahs for tbe upcoming edition of the Caribbean Premier League. Along with Carlos Brathwaite, another hard-hitting all-rounder, Russell is among the seven players who were retained by the franchise ahead of the 9th edition of the tournament. Barring the big retentions, Tallawahs have also retained the likes of Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton and veteran fast bowler Fidel Edwards who made a return to CPL only last year. Meanwhile coming back to Russell, he had called the Tallawahs the weirdest franchise in the CPL he has been part of and conceded that 2020 was the last time he was plying his trade for the franchise. However now he has to be part of the franchise now despite some strong words last season. Left-arm spinner Verasammy Permaul and Ryan Persaud was brought back into the team. "The Tallawahs have 10 spots to fill to complete their squad and these will be announced in the coming weeks," the official CPL twitter handle wrote. Meanwhile St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be bolstered by the inclusion of Dwayne Bravo who has been traded from the Trinbago Knight Riders. The 9th edition of the CPL is slated to kick off on 28th August with the final slated to be played on 19th September. All the 33 matches will take place at the Warner Park in St Kitts and Nevis.