‘Every ball felt like a question’: Hashim Amla picks Pakistan pacer as best bowler he has faced

Srinagar: Former South Africa batsman Hashim Amla, who gave headaches to bowlers during his playing days, has picked the best bowler he has faced in his international career.

Amla named former Pakistan medium pacer Mohammad Asif as the toughest bowler he faced because of his ability to swing the ball both ways.

“The best bowler I’ve ever faced is Mohammad Asif. His accuracy was amazing. With the new ball, he moved it both ways and every ball felt like a question that could get you out. I found him to be an amazing bowler,” said Hashim Amla in an interview for Peshawar Zalmi.

Asif represented Pakistan in 23 Tests, 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is, picking up 106, 46 and 13 wickets respectively. What should have been a long one otherwise, Asif’s career was cut short after he was banned for 7 years for his involvement in spot-fixing in 2010 in England.

Amla, South Africa’s second-highest Test run-scorer with 9,282 runs in 124 matches, also named Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yousuf as the Pakistani cricketers whom he admires the most.

“Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousaf, Wasim [Akram] and Waqar [Younis] were the guys I watched and thought, Wow! Look at these cricketers. It is brilliant to see guys like Wasim Akram and Mushtaq Ahmed now being involved with the Pakistan Super League (PSL) teams.”

“The biggest aspect is international cricket coming back to Pakistan and Pakistan has always had a major role in cricket, so it was brilliant to experience the wonderful country. It has been really nice to be here again and I hope that the PSL goes from strength to strength every year. All the foreign players have really enjoyed it.” Amla said.