Mohammad Asif is back from the wilderness vowing to give his best whenever he gets the opportunity to represent the country in future. The pacer has completed his one-year doping ban and joined the team here early on Wednesday morning. Asif was banned for using performance enhancing drugs during the Indian Premier League (IPL) last summer.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) was so strict on him that he was not even allowed to train and travel with the team till the expiry of the ban that ended midnight Tuesday. “Thank God I am back. I would do my best to serve the country whenever I get an opportunity to play,” he said.
The Pakistan think tank wants Asif to practice more with the team instead of rushing him in after a long break from international cricket.
He returned to the national side after a gap of nearly 17 months because of disciplinary and doping issues.
Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan team manager, said that the team management wanted him to get into the rhythm in next two days so that he could play in the crunch match against India on Saturday.
“It all depends on how our bowlers play in the match against West Indies. His inclusion largely depends on the performance of the other bowlers. If they perform well I think we will continue with the same attack,” he said.
Yawar said Asif’s return was great news for the team as he was a bowler who could always challenge any batsman.
“But we feel he needs some more time in the nets to find his rhythm and tempo before he returns to the international arena,” he added.
Asif has bad memories of this ground as it was here almost two years back that he was hit by a bat by none other than his teammate Shoaib Akhtar. Shoaib was banned for the misadventure and as a result also lost his place on the team.
Source: paktribune.com
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