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"In view of the IPL Player Auction which is scheduled on January 27 and 28, there has been a change of schedule for the domestic tournaments. The changes are being done so that the T20 Zonal League and Syed Mushtaq Ali Knock out (except final match) are held before the IPL player Auction which will enable the domestic players to showcase their talent and will also be beneficial for the franchises during the Player Auction to build their teams," a BCCI statement said when the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy was preponed so that the players can showcase their talents.
I don't know whether preponing the tournament served its purpose or not but if you ask a certain fast bowler from Kerala, it changed his fortunes. Barely a month ago, KM Asif was literally no one, didn't get a chance to represent his state in any of the domestic senior tournaments. But, he got off to a swashbuckling start in 2018 as he was named in the Kerala squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy where he played a couple of matches for his team and registered himself for the 2018 IPL with a tiny hope of getting picked by one of the franchises.
He was the 266th name in the 31st set (Uncapped Fast Bowlers) of the players' list who went under the hammer. In the morning session on day two, when most of the names were bypassed as none of the franchises showed interest in them, Asif's name appeared out of nowhere.
A minute later, he was sold to two-time IPL champions and the most successful IPL side, Chennai Super Kings for 40 lakhs, which is twice his base price, after a brief bidding war with the defending champions Mumbai Indians.
Unfortunately for him, he couldn't live the moment as he missed the day two of the IPL auction and went to play in Chennai instead. After getting to know about this, he was jubilant as his dream of playing in the IPL was fulfilled.
"110 players on the first day; and my number was 266 – so I didn’t have that many expectations considering just how many players were ahead of me. So, I didn’t really stay to watch day two. Yesterday, I had a game in Chennai, a league match, and one of my senior’s arm got injured while playing the match and we walked off. At this time, he checked his phone and he saw this, [that I’d been selected]. Immediately he let me know that. It’s any cricketers dream to be able to play in the IPL. In fact, I am very fortunate enough just to play for Kerala and then in the same year, just to know that I got selected in the IPL, I felt very happy," he said.
Who is KM Asif?
KM Asif, also known as Mohammed Asif, is a 24-year-old fast bowler from Malappuram, Kerala and has attracted a lot of people with his pace in the handful of matches he has played. One might wonder how someone from Malappuram is passionate about cricket and took it as his career instead of football.
Yes, Malappuram is a district in Kerala that has a lot of passionate football fans in every corner of it and has produced a lot of quality footballers for the country.
Football was his first love and he dreamt of becoming a footballer when he was young. That's when a conversation with his friend, who used to play under-17 cricket then changed his life forever. No one forced him to play cricket and no cricketer inspired him to take up fast bowling which is evident from the fact that he had no role models growing up.
"I used to play football till 10th standard. But, I also used to play tennis ball cricket with my friends. I come from Edavanna, Malappuram and most of my friends there, and the older boys as well, were interested in cricket and I used to play with them. Never wanted to become anybody per se, I just used to play because I loved it. Whether it was with Tennis ball or leather ball, I just wanted to play. I had a friend who played U-17 and on his advice, I applied to the GV Raja Sports School for selection into their cricket team. I also spoke to Surendran sir, who is a teacher there and hails from my hometown: and the more I talked to him, the more interested I became. And then I went there and got selected," he said.
As he started playing for his school team, he developed his game and became more lethal. He had something that not many in our country has, raw pace.
"Coach used to keep telling me that fast bowling is not easy. And by that, I mean FAST bowling. Medium-pace we can manage, but this is not like that. Fast bowling is a little bit more dependent on genetics, and the way of life (the way we grow up)," he said.
Asif had pace with him and he needed someone to guide him so that he can make use of his talent properly. He used it to his advantage, rattled the batsmen in his region, progressed further and finally he met Biju George.
Biju George's intervention and Sanju Samson's influence
The moment he met Biju George for the first time in 2012-13, Asif's career started to get resurrected slowly but steadily. Who is Biju George? He is one of the well-renowned coaches in the country as he has served as the fielding coach for the Indian under-19 team, head coach for the Kuwait national team and adding to that, he has an eye for talent, which is evident from the fact that he was also one of the talent scouts for Kolkata Knight Riders. He is currently with the Indian women's team as their fielding coach.
He was the reason behind KM Asif, the fast bowler, as he guided him for four years in Trivandrum and the Kerala Cricket Association sponsored him throughout. Adding to this, he also made sure that the right-arm pacer got a chance to bowl at the Kolkata Knight Riders batsmen when they came to Bangalore last season.
"Biju sir has told me that I have a natural seed, all I need is to develop this. I used to bowl fast, of course not as fast as now, but yeah – fast for my age back then. I have been with Biju sir for around five years now and I am still learning under his tutelage and in the beginning itself, he started teaching me techniques to improve my bowling. A couple of years ago itself he told me that I’m bowling really well and he has given me all the support to make myself ready to play at a higher level. Ever since my early days with him, he used to talk to me about needing to get into the IPL. Last year, when Kolkata Knight Riders were in Bangalore for their playoffs, I had been called to bowl and he was a massive influence for that. He has helped me a lot with the aim of somehow getting me to play at a higher level," he said.
Without a doubt, Asif is forever indebted to Biju George but he is not the only person Asif is indebted to. Kerala batsman Sanju Samson, who made a name for himself through the IPL and was one of the hottest Indian properties ahead of the auction, helped Asif by passing the information about him to the franchises and made sure that the pacer got a chance to give chances to few franchises before the auction.
When asked about Samson's influence in him getting an IPL contract, he said "before this auction, Sanju told me that he’d talked to two-three teams and that I have to somehow go for selection trials. I have not played Ranji Trophy but I’ve just been with the team. So during that time, he’d told me that even if ‘even if you don’t get a chance to play make sure you go for selections; make sure you perform well, bowl well.’ And he himself sent me across to three teams."
The Thala, Warrier and Asif's IPL ambitions
"As far as any cricketer is concerned, playing under Dhoni, or playing with Dhoni is like a dream. In fact, just bowling to him in the nets itself is such a great blessing. And now, I got selected for his team. Phew, what else can I ask for? After all, Dhoni is our Thala, isn’t he? The best captain in the world and I consider myself fortunate to play with somebody like him."
These are the exact words he said when I put the name MS Dhoni. This sums up how excited he is to share the dressing room with Thala during the IPL. Talking about the IPL, he admitted that he is not expecting to play for the Men in Yellow in the IPL as he is a rookie on the block and there are many experienced cricketers ahead of him in the pecking order. But, when he gets a chance to play, he vows to do well for the former champions.
"Don’t have much to say in terms of aims. If I get a chance, that would be great but even if I’m on the bench, it’s fine. I just want to be with the team so that I can get a lot of experience from the veterans and if I get a chance, I want to perform well and contribute well to the team," he said.
Being a big fan of Dale Steyn, Asif's role model now is his fellow Kerala pacer Sandeep Warrier. Yes, you read that right. "He is a bowler I like very much and I’ve been working with him for a year now. I stayed with him for more than a month and did my workouts and all together with him," he concluded.
Hailing from a place that hardly produced cricketers to the state, Asif is here to re-write history and he will be hoping that the stepping stone for his cricket journey has been planted over this past fortnight.
With additional inputs from Anirudh Menon.
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