Asif Ahmed (cricketer, born 1942)

Asif Ahmed (born 1 April 1942 in Karachi) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1960 to 1972.

A right-handed batsman, he made a century on his first-class debut at the age of 17, scoring 148 for Pakistan Universities against East Pakistan in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy in 1959-60.^[1]

In 1961-62 he scored 75 for the Karachi Blues team that defeated Combined Services in the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.^[2] He was selected to play for a Combined XI against the touring MCC team a few weeks later, and made 58, the top score on either side in a match ruined by rain.^[3] Then in the final of the Ayub Trophy, he scored 115 in Karachi's victory over North Zone.^[4] In that season he made 613 runs in 10 matches at an average of 51.08.^[5]

Ahmed was selected to tour England in 1962 with the Pakistan team. However, he played only nine of the 29 first-class matches and sometimes "went weeks on end without playing"^[6] and finished with only 155 runs at 11.92, with a highest score of 43 against Essex.^[7]

He studied at Oxford University after the tour and appeared for the university side irregularly in 1963 and 1964. He played 18 matches for Oxford, scoring 456 runs at 16.88, with a top score of 54 (retired hurt) against Pakistan Eaglets.^[8]

In his first match after returning to Pakistan, in November 1967, Ahmed opened the batting for Karachi Blues against Lahore Greens in the long-delayed final of the 1965-66 Ayub Trophy and made 114 in a ten-wicket victory.^[9] Later that month, in the final of the 1966-67 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, he again opened the batting for Karachi and made 109 to help them to victory over Railways.^[10] He continued to play first-class cricket, with moderate success, until 1972.

References

External links

• Asif Ahmed at Cricket Archive