He won an award for 19 balls of thrilling batting and says he has plans for Australia in the T20 World Cup semi-final
This week Asif Ali was named the ICC’s male cricketer of the month for October, with barely a whisper of dissent. The remarkable thing about this is that he only faced 19 deliveries in the entire month – even if the recipient of the award was certain to come from the T20 World Cup, by October’s end 51 batters had scored more runs and 98 had faced more deliveries. It was what Asif did with them that counted, and within those 19 balls, spanning just 37 minutes, he won two matches, hit seven sixes, and became one of the stars of the tournament.
Asif’s 27 off 12, very much a marathon by his standards, dragged his team over the line against New Zealand, but his next match was where the real fireworks came. Against Afghanistan he arrived at the crease with his team needing 24 from 13 balls. Shadab Khan nudged the next ball to midwicket and wanted a single but Asif sent him back: he had this. Four of the next six balls went for six and Pakistan won with an over to spare, Asif’s contribution brief but jaw-droppingly brilliant. Player of the month? Yeah, and then some.
