Mohammad Asif to lead his regional side Sialkot in domestic grade-2 tournament

Mohammad Asif, the Pakistani fast bowler, has been named as the captain of the Sialkot Region team for the Quaid-e-Azam grade-2 cricket tournament, starting Saturday in Bahawalpur.

Asif, who already has a contract with a grade-1 side, Water and Power Development Authority [WAPDA], has been released to represent his regional side in the tournament.

Asif was one of three cricketers who were suspended for five years for their role in spot-fixing during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010. The other two cricketers were Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir.

After the expiry of their suspension period in September last year, Butt and Asif were signed as 17th-grade non-executive employees by the WAPDA, as a part of their rehabilitation process.

Asif represented the WAPDA side in the national One-Day Cup in January on his return to competitive cricket.

“Since he was cleared by the ICC and the PCB so we have decided to play him,” the Sialkot Region president Nauman Butt told ESPN Cricinfo.

Asif picked up 7 wickets from 7 matches in the National One-day Cup, played in January

“It was my request to him to play as captain and players like (Abdur) Rehman, Bilawal Bhatti are going to play under him. None of the players have any problem with our decision and they are all like family members,” he added.

“He is the senior-most player in the team and enjoying the respect that a captain requires from a team-mate. His behavior has been exemplary during the camp with all the youngsters and I am satisfied with his attitude.

“I have spoken with every player and they have confirmed that they have no problem at all. What happened was past and he served his punishment and got all the NOCs from the governing body and he recently played the National One-Day Cup as well.”

The 33-year-old was suspended in 2010 for bowling deliberate no-balls during a Test match against England at Lord’s.

The Quaid-e-Azam tournament will be the second one that Asif participates in since his return to competitive cricket. In the seven games that he played for the WAPDA in the National One-Day Cup in January, the fast bowler picked up 7 wickets at an average of 27.

Butt, on the other hand, finished as the second highest run-scorer of the tournament with 536 runs from 7 games with one century and four fifties. Both the players were registered for the Caribbean Premier League 2016 draft, but were not picked up any of the franchises.