Who is Kashif Ali? 5 interesting facts about Pakistan seamer making his debut in 2nd PAK vs WI Test 2025

Kashif Ali received his maiden Test cap ahead of Pakistan's second Test against the West Indies at the Multan Cricket Stadium on January 25, 2025. The fast bowler shared the new ball with Sajid Khan in the first innings.

The conditions in Multan supported the spinners, which is why captain Shan Masood did not give too many overs to debutan fast bowler Kashif Ali. The debutant bowled only four overs, where he returned with figures of 1/16. He opened his account in his first over itself, dismissing West Indies opener Mikyle Louis on the fifth ball of his Test career.

Kashif Ali has a bright future ahead for Pakistan. Before the seamer takes more wickets, here's a quick glance at five important things to know about him.

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#1 Kashif Ali was born in Rawalpindi

Rawalpindi has produced many talented cricketers for the Pakistan team. Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar hailed from the same part of the country and was popularly known as the 'Rawalpindi Express' in international cricket.

Kashif Ali was born in Rawalpindi on June 6, 1994. At the time of writing, the right-arm medium pace bowler is 30 years and 233 days old.

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#2 Kashif Ali has more than 100 first-class wickets to his name

Although Ali is not a popular name in Pakistan Super League or other franchise competitions, he has a ton of first-class cricket experience under his belt. He has played 36 first-class matches, scalping 101 wickets at an economy rate of 3.41.

The 30-year-old has represented Rawalpindi, Northern, Northern 2nd XI, and Rawalpindi Region teams in his domestic career so far. His best bowling figures in first-class matches are 6/86.

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#3 Kashif Ali has played only 9 T20 matches

It is rare to see any cricketer playing more first-class matches than T20 matches in the modern era of the game. However, Ali belongs to that rare group of players.

He has played 36 first-class matches, but in the T20 format, he has only received nine caps. In nine matches, Ali has taken three wickets at an economy rate of 9.20.

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#4 The connection between his daughter and his Test debut

In a video shared by Kashif himself on Instagram, the fast bowler mentioned that just before the second Test against the West Indies, he asked his young daughter to pray for his success. Soon after, he came to know that he was going to make his Test debut.

Kashif mentioned that his daughter was his lucky charm. At the same time, he highlighted that he worked extremely hard to make it this far in his career.

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#5 Ali almost gave up cricket once

In the same video, Ali mentioned that he had never played cricket at the age group level. He only took the sport seriously when he started playing club cricket during his college days.

The fast bowler mentioned that there were many tough situations in his journey. In fact, he even considered giving up cricket at one point in his life. However, he did not do so, and credited God for giving him so much success.