"How are we going to get them out?", Mohammad Asif recalls 2006 Karachi Test against India

Asif had picked up 7 wickets in the match as Pakistan won by 341 runs.

Mohammad Asif | GETTY

Former Pakistan pacer Mohammad Asif was worried about a strong Indian batting line-up before facing them in the 2006 Karachi Test.

Asif said he and Shoaib Akhtar were thinking about ways to take down India who had the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman in their side.

Pakistan had still managed to win the match by 341 runs as Asif ended up picking 7 wickets in the match. Both the first two matches ended in high-scoring draws.

“No doubt it was a great feeling. It was such a batting-heavy team. I remember when Shoaib bhai and I looked at the team sheet, he was like ‘who all are we going to get out’. At No 7 or 8 was Dhoni," Asif said on Kamran Akmal's YouTube channel.

"We looked at the line up and we said ‘how are we going to get them out’. Because I think all these players across formats would have combined to score a lakh or 1.5 lakh runs between them. Everyone had at least 15-20K runs.”

Also Read: ‘They are 17-18 on paper but actually 27-28 years old’: Mohammad Asif on current Pakistan pacers

It was a special win for Pakistan after conceding a hat-trick to India pacer Irfan Pathan in the first over of their innings.

Kamran Akmal had smashed a hundred to take them to a respectable total in first innings. They came back strong in the second innings with bat and ball to win the series. India has not toured Pakistan again for a Test series since that trip.

Asif's figures in the first innings was 4/78, followed by 3/48 in the second.

“Shoaib bhai I remember had bowled to the Indian batsmen with a lot of pace. He had started bowling those deadly bouncers, full of pace from Faisalabad itself,” Asif recalled.

“And I took advantage of it. Because of his bouncers, Indian players were playing on the backfoot and since I pitched the ball forward, they were in two minds. He was extremely quick in that match. He couldn’t get wickets but he set the stage for my wickets.”

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 02 Jan, 2021

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