Umaid Asif’s journey from teaching mathematics to becoming astute cricketer

After teaching mathematics to A Levels students, Umaid Asif used to rush to the cricket academy to train and pursue his dream of becoming a professional cricketer.

In 2006, the then 22-year-old had left his ACCA halfway through to focus on improving his game. He was teaching in schools and tuition centres to earn some money so that he could bear his expenses.

After teaching for some time, he joined a call centre, where he used to do night shifts and then run to training in the morning. “I used to sleep around four hours a day,” reiterated Umaid while talking to Bol News. “I continued doing it for about two years.”

He was passionate about the game since his childhood. He had seen his uncle, late Tahir Mughal, play cricket from an early age. Umaid used to play in the streets and was a regular member of his school cricket teams.

However, in his early days, he used to play as a batter and had never tried his luck as a bowler. When the fast-bowler, who is now 6 ft 5 inches, started getting the height, he tried to test himself with the ball in hand.

Umaid came from Lahore to continue his A-Levels from Crescent School and was selected for the school team. It was where he played with the cricket ball for the first time.

One day, he met his uncle Mughal, who used to play for Sialkot Stallions, alongside Shoaib Malik and other top Pakistan’s national and domestic stars, and told him that he has started bowling and wanted to show him his skills.

“My uncle called me to his academy and when he saw me bowling, he asked me to join Model Town Club,” shared Umaid. “On the first day of training, the coach saw me and called me. He asked me how old I was. I told him 22. He said, ‘Had you come earlier, you would have been selected’. I told him I can still play if I work hard.”

With an aim to play domestic cricket within the next three years, he started training. However, he knew little about how to train and what to prepare for. For the first couple of years, he just kept training aimlessly and bowling without much awareness.

Afterwards, he started asking questions from his seniors. Soon, he started getting the results. He was selected in the club’s main team and featured in almost all of their games.

During a club match in 2009, WAPDA coaches saw him playing and called him for a trial. The young pacer was impressive and he was offered a contract by the department.

His department gave him an extensive run in the domestic season and he played eight matches. Still, he could not shine to his brightest as he was playing alongside other stars of that era. “Rana Naved, Shabbir Ahmed and others were part of the team. They used to get early wickets and I didn’t get to bowl many overs,” he reminisced.

In the eight games he played in the first season, he only bowled 600 deliveries and took 18 wickets. In the next two seasons, he took 35 plus wickets in each of them and then decided to move to the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP).

However, the move did not go well for the lanky pacer as he was dropped from the side due to high competition within the team. In the first season, he played seven or eight games and in the second run, he just played a couple of matches.

Unsatisfied with the NBP, he joined Khan Research Laboratory (KRL). The teams changed but his fate did not. He was again rested for the majority of matches that led him to change the team again.

His best performance in the domestic circuit came in 2017 where he emerged as the best all-rounder in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy while playing for Lahore Whites. He was also the best bowler of the National T20 competition and was among the five top bowlers in the 50-over format. “That season was the highlight of my career,” he said.

He accredited his success to the coach of his team Kamran Khan, saying that coaches and managers play a key role in the success of players.

“I told my coach before a game that I won’t be able to play it as I had an injury,” he said. “My coach told me you will play no matter what, bowl with two strides if you want. He made me play that match and I took 9 wickets in that game against a team that had players like Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Hussain Talat and others.”

He was then selected for Pakistan A squad to face New Zealand A. In his List A debut, he took a five-for and picked seven wickets overall in the series. He was also a part of the side when Pakistan A took on England lions; however, he could not deliver to the best of his abilities, but he was decent with the bat.

“After playing for the A side, he was then called to the National Cricket Academy for the national camp. “The management had asked me for the passport and they were saying you will play the next series. But, unfortunately, I never received a call.”

In 2017-18, there was a competition between Umaid and the left-arm pacer Waqas Maqsood that one of them will play for Pakistan. Eventually, the latter made his debut against New Zealand on November 04, 2018, in Dubai.

“He is a good friend of mine. We have always supported each other. He got a chance to play but I couldn’t. I was happy for him. We used to talk that we both will play together,” he recalled.

However, it was the only international game that Maqsood played.

It was not the first that Umaid had come close to making it to the national side but it was the closest he got. Earlier in his career, he was appreciated by the then chief selector Basit Ali and was assured that he will play for Pakistan. He was also called by Dav Whatmore but he never actually made it big.

The veteran domestic performer believes that earning a national call now has become much easier than it was before. “Things have changed now,” he said. “Kids get the cap easily, see Hasnain, Musa and others. They didn’t play much of a First-Class before making their debut.”

Moreover, he also thinks that competition during his heydays was much tougher than it is today. There were Umar Gul, Junaid Khan and other capable fast bowlers ready to take a spot in the team.

Even after getting constantly ignored and having a couple of poor seasons in the domestic, he did not lose his heart. People kept telling him to quit cricket, but little did they know that they were motivating him to do better.

The experienced campaigner, who has played 61 First-Class matches, 40 List A games and 99 T20 encounters, has got nerves of steel. He is never disappointed and never back off from working hard.

The pacer also had an opportunity to represent the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the international stage as his brother, Faizan Asif, has played for the UAE team.

“He [Faizan] played a T20 World Cup from the team and 50-over qualifier,” said Umaid. “He even gave me an option to represent UAE but it wasn’t my aim. I didn’t want to play for any other team. I don’t have any regret.”

Despite being a constant part of Sialkot Stallions’ dominant squad in the National T20 competitions, who remained unbeaten for about 25 games, since 2011, he was initially ignored in the first two drafts of the Pakistan Super League.

“I was not named in the draft and I had to request PCB to include my name,” he shared. “They saw my record and then inducted me in. I was the best bowler in [domestic] T20s back then. I was hoping I will be picked, but no one did. I was hopeful that I will be selected as a 21st pick but I wasn’t even selected there. I was deeply disheartened. I was angry but then again, I returned to working even harder.”

Then came PSL 3, where he was picked by Peshawar Zalmi. Umaid was suffering from a back injury at that time. He was contacted by Zalmi’s director and head coach Mohammad Akram to inquire how he was doing and he replied to the former fast-bowler that he is having trouble bowling.

“He asked me to bowl and let him know the condition. I was happy but at the same time dejected. When I bowled an over, it was very painful for me. With a heavy heart, I decided to tell him the truth, though everyone forbade me to do so,” he stated.

Akram was impressed with his honesty. He then again called him a few days later and encouraged him to have a proper warm-up and bowl again.

Umaid followed Akram’s instructions and bowled five overs. He communicated to Zalmi’s coach that he felt much better. There, he was told that the franchise is going to pick him and that he should be ready for the challenge.

“I picked a couple of wickets against Lahore Qalandars in the practice game, Sammy put his hand on the shoulder and told me, ‘You will do good for us in the edition’. When a champion player says something like it, it gives you confidence,” he said.

In his first game of the PSL, despite having tons of experience, he was nervous. He first bowled a wide delivery and then conceded a four. In the next delivery, he reached the bowling mark and told himself to relax and reminded himself that he has been bowling for ages and he needs to be confident.

“In the same game, I started doing what I used to do and took four wickets,” the 37-year-old recalled.

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This year, Umaid will be representing Karachi Kings for the second time in the league. According to Peshawar Zalmi’s director, they wanted to pick the tall fast-bowler again but they couldn’t as the Kings roped him before they could.

The fast bowler has been a successful campaigner in the glittering T20 league, but his ultimate dream is to play with the Star on his chest.

“I am still not disheartened,” he maintained. “I will keep working hard till the day I have strength. As long as I can compete with the youngsters, I will keep playing.

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