Asif Ali (cricketer, born 1991)

Asif Ali (born 1 October 1991) is a Pakistani cricketer playing for the Pakistan national cricket team. In first-class cricket, Asif represents Northern, and he plays for Lahore Qalandars in the Pakistan Super League.^[3]

Asif Ali

Personal information
Born	(1991-10-01) 1 October 1991 (age 33) Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan
Nickname	Laparu[1]
Height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)[2]
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right-arm off break
Role	Middle-order batter
International information
National side	Pakistan (2018–2022)
ODI debut (cap 217)	13 July 2018 v Zimbabwe
Last ODI	2 April 2022 v Australia
T20I debut (cap 76)	1 April 2018 v West Indies
Last T20I	23 October 2022 v India
Domestic team information
Years	Team
2010/11–2017/18	Faisalabad
2013	United Bank Limited
2014	Punjab
2016–2023	Islamabad United (squad no. 13)
2016/17–2018/19	Rawalpindi
2016/17–2018/19	Sui Northern Gas
2018–2019	Cape Town Blitz
2018/19	Islamabad
2018/19	Sindh
2019/20–2021/22	Northern
2019/20	Dhaka Platoon
2020	Jamaica Tallawahs
2021	St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
2022/23	Hobart Hurricanes
2024	Peshawar Zalmi
2025	Lahore Qalandars
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I LA T20 Matches 21 58 99 294 Runs scored 382 577 2,388 4,700 Batting average 25.46 15.18 28.42 22.27 100s/50s 0/3 0/0 4/13 1/15 Top score 52 41* 138 100 Balls bowled 5 – 70 42 Wickets 0 – 3 4 Bowling average – – 30.66 13.25 5 wickets in innings 0 – 0 0 10 wickets in match 0 – 0 0 Best bowling – – 2/10 2/27 Catches/stumpings 6/– 21/– 44/– 118/–
Source: ESPNCricinfo, 25 April 2025

He is one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).^[4][5]

Early life

Asif was born on 1 October 1991, in Faisalabad, Pakistan

Before going into professional cricket, he used to work as a labourer in an iron foundry.^[6]

Domestic and T20 franchise career

Misbah-ul-Haq has played an instrumental role in his development as a cricketer and initially picked him as a power-hitter in the 2011 Super 8 Twenty20 Cup when he was a captain of the Faisalabad cricket team.^[6]

He was the leading run-scorer for Faisalabad in the 2017–18 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, with 369 runs in six matches.^[7] He also played in the 2017 Everest Premier league for Pokhara Rhinos.^[8]

In April 2018, he was named in Punjab's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup.^[9][10] He scored the most runs for Punjab during the tournament, with 328 runs in four matches.^[11]

On 3 June 2018, he was selected to play for the Edmonton Royals in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.^[12] In October 2018, he was named in Cape Town Blitz's squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.^[13][14]

In March 2019, he was named in Sindh's squad for the 2019 Pakistan Cup.^[15][16] In September 2019, he was named in the squad for the Cape Town Blitz team for the 2019 Mzansi Super League tournament.^[17]

In September 2019, he was named in Northern's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament.^[18][19] In November 2019, he was selected to play for the Dhaka Platoon in the 2019–20 Bangladesh Premier League.^[20]

In July 2020, he was named in the Jamaica Tallawahs squad for the 2020 Caribbean Premier League.^[21][22] In October 2020, he was drafted by the Jaffna Stallions for the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League.^[23] In January 2021, he was named in Northern's squad for the 2020–21 Pakistan Cup.^[24][25]

He was picked by St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for CPL 2021.^[26][27] In December 2021, he was signed by Islamabad United following the players' draft for the 2022 Pakistan Super League.^[28] In July 2022, he was signed by the Colombo Stars for the third edition of the Lanka Premier League.^[29]

In August 2022, he was signed by the Hobart Hurricanes for BBL 12.^[30]

International career

In Mar 2018, he was named in Pakistan's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against the West Indies.^[31][32] He made his T20I debut for Pakistan against the West Indies on 1 April 2018.^[33] He made his ODI debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe on 13 July 2018.^[34]

In May 2019, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) named their final fifteen-man squad for the tournament.^[35][36] Ali struggled to make an impact in the first three years of his international career, and was often sidelined from the team.^[37][38]

2021 ICC T20 World Cup

In September 2021, he was named in Pakistan's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.^[39] His selection was criticized by many people including ex-cricketers^[40][41][42] but he proved his selection right by scoring crucial runs against New Zealand and Afghanistan.^{[43][44][45][46]} He won the man of the match award for scoring unbeaten 25 off 7 balls against Afghanistan.^[47][48]

Asif Ali won the Player of the Month award in November 2021 for his match-winning performances for Pakistan during the T20 World Cup.^[49][50]

Asia Cup 2022

He was named in the Pakistan's squad for the Asia Cup 2022.^[51] On September 8, 2022, he was fined 25% of match fees for breaching Level 1 of the ICC Code of Conduct during the match against Afghanistan after he got involved in a heated exchange with Afghanistan's bowler Fareed Ahmad.^[52]