One of Pakistan’s fine hard hitters has brought curtains down on his career. Asif Ali’s Retirement has already brought fans sadness, as some of his iconic performances have brought joy to the nation. The middle-order right-hander has represented Pakistan in 21 ODIs and 58 T20Is and has scored 959 runs in international cricket. He has scored three fifties, all coming in ODI format.
Asif made his international debut against the West Indies in 2018 and last represented Pakistan against Bangladesh in the 2023 Asian Games Men’s Cricket Competition, where they failed to win a single medal and ended at 4th place. He will continue to play domestic and league cricket.
Asif has played some memorable performances for Pakistan. We look at some best knocks of his career.
Asif Ali’s Retirement – Top Innings
25* of 7 ball | Pakistan vs Afghanistan | Group Stage – Men’s T20 World Cup 2021
The number one pick of Asif’s career highlights. Pakistan had won back-to-back games against India and New Zealand and were looking to go three-three. The match came down to the penultimate over after Babar Azam and Shoaib Malik were dismissed in the space of six balls and denied Shadab Khan a single in the last ball of the 18th over.
Pakistan needed 24 from 12 balls, and what happened was madness from Asif. He smashed four sixes to Karim Janat, won the match with one whole over to spare and was awarded his only World Cup Player of the Match award.
Also Read: Asif Ali Gets his Side Home in Pakistan vs Afghanistan Contest
16 of 8 ball | Pakistan vs India | Super 4 – Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2022
Another Dubai special from Asif. In an important Super 4 match, Pakistan needed 34 from three overs when Asif arrived. It came down to the last two overs, when Pakistan needed 26 from two. That’s where Asif gunned down Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 19th over.
He smashed six and a four in an over that cost 19 and another four in the following over before he was dismissed. He left when two were required from two balls, but it was all over for India by then.
27* of 12 ball | Pakistan vs New Zealand | Group Stage – Men’s T20 World Cup 2021
Before Asif’s Afghanistan heroics, there was the New Zealand battle in Sharjah. Pakistan needed 48 from 31 balls and immediately smashed the first ball for four. The turning point of the match came in the 17th over when they needed 36 from 23. Asif smashed consecutive sixes off Tim Southee.
Shoaib Malik took care of the spin over next before Asif smashed a six off Trent Boult and ended the match with two runs, securing Pakistan’s two straight wins in the event.
37* of 18 ball | Pakistan vs Australia | Match 5 – Zimbabwe Tri-series 2018
It was a short cameo, but enough for Pakistan to put on a challenging total against Australia in Harare. Pakistan were 159-5 by the end of the 18th over, and Asif was on 9 from 10 balls. In his next eight deliveries, he smashed 28 runs, taking Pakistan to an imposing total of 194, which they won by 45 runs.
21* of 7 ball | Pakistan vs West Indies | 3rd T20I, 2021
In the T20I series with the West Indies, the visitors asked Pakistan to chase 207. Pakistan had never chased any bigger target. The foundation was led by the brilliance of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. But once the pair was dismissed, Pakistan needed 24 from 16 balls. Asif entered, and he ended the match with seven balls to spare.
50* of 22 ball | Pakistan vs Zimbabwe | 4th ODI, 2018
This match was all about Fakhar Zaman’s 210, the first Pakistani to get to double centuries in ODIs. But Asif had his own show. He scored his maiden ODI half-century, which helped his side to score 399, Pakistan’s highest ever total in One Day Cricket.
51 of 36 ball | Pakistan vs England | 2nd ODI, 2019
This match was important to Asif as he was not picked for the 2019 World Cup. This series against England was a warm-up, and Asif had a chance to prove. He did in his very first innings in England, scoring 51 from 36 balls as Pakistan were chasing a mammoth total of 373. Unfortunately for the Green Team, they fell 12 runs short on what would have been Pakistan’s world record chase in One Day Cricket.
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