Karachi : Serving a five-year ban for involvement in spot-fixing, Pakistan pacer
Mohammad Asif says he has been watching James Anderson's performance
against India very closely and would try employing the England seamer's
tactics if he manages to make a comeback."I have watched James
Anderson's bowling very closely again and again and it has been very
interesting watching him bowl. When I come back to cricket even after
the time away I will be thinking about how Anderson bowled against India
and will use that for my benefit. If you think you are the finished
article and don't need to learn from others then you are wrong", Asif
told 'pakpassion.net'."I love watching Test cricket. Test
cricket for me is the pinnacle, the real deal. The England versus India
Test series was fascinating, I really enjoyed it. I watched more of the
England vs India match as I wanted to see Anderson bowling," he said. Asif also felt that Anderson is bowling with the similar skills and tactics that he had previously used."Only
someone like myself who has bowled like Anderson, with a similar style
of bowling can truly appreciate what he is doing with the cricket ball
and how well he is bowling these days. Anderson has not been playing
cricket against the Indians, he has been playing with their minds," he
elaborated."He has truly out-thought and baffled the Indians
with his artistry and skill. It reminded me so much of what (Mohammad)
Amir and I did at times last year to the Australian and English batsmen.
If Anderson carries on bowling the way he has been recently and
continues to improve then he can become a cricket legend," he said.Asif
has admitted that being caught up in the spot-fixing scandal and then
being banned has been mentally very tough for him and the events had
left him extremely disappointed."Mentally, it's been really
tough. Cricket is my life and always will be, and for that to be taken
away from me in the circumstances it was, has been terribly difficult to
cope with," Asif said."When you have served your country as a
professional sportsman, then you don't want that to ever be taken away
from you. I've been practising regularly with some of my friends but
it's heartbreaking to think that not so long ago I was playing cricket
at the top tier of the game and now I'm occasionally playing nowhere
near that standard," he added.Asked about his future, Asif, who
has taken 106 wickets in 23 Tests, said it was difficult for him to
predict where he would be in four year's time when the ban ends."It's
four years into the future, it's difficult to predict what can happen
in those four years I don't know what the situation will be like in four
years. I guess only time will tell. Anyone who has been involved in the
game finds it hard to totally move away from the sport," he added.The pace bowler maintained he was innocent and said the Pakistan Cricket Board had not done enough to help him."I
am confident of being cleared of the criminal charges at next month's
trial under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 at Southwark Crown
Court, London," he said."I'm hopeful that I will be cleared of
everything and I can resume playing cricket again as soon as possible.
Whoever committed any alleged crime, the Pakistan Cricket Board should
have dealt with that individual and taken the appropriate action against
that individual.The PCB had taken offence to Asif's complaint
against it, insisting it had done everything in its power to assist the
players during the spot-fixing scandal.
