KM Asif, popularly known as Mohammed Asif is an Indian cricketer born on 24th July 1993 in Edavanna, Malappuram. Asif is primarily a right-arm medium pace bowler for the Kerala state side. Asif bats right-handed lower down the order as a tail ender.
Asif made his first appearance for Kerala during the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali South Zone group stages. He made his debut against Goa at Visakhapatnam and impressed everyone with his pace. One of the deliveries he bowled against Goa clocked 144 kmph on the speed gun which brought him in notice of everyone. He ended up picking three wickets from 25 runs. He took 2/34 in the next game against Karnataka which included the wickets of top-scorer, Mayank Agarwal and Ravikumar Samarth. His impressive performance in the shorter format of the game meant Asif was handed his debut in the List A cricket as well against Himachal Pradesh at Nadaun. He celebrated the occasion by picking 3/65. Following his first IPL stint, he made his first-class debut in December 2019, for his state team in the 2019-20 season of Ranji Trophy.
KM Asif was one of the last players to get himself listed for the 2018 Indian Premier League auctions and was kept at a base price of INR 20 lakhs. He was eventually bought for 40 lakhs by Chennai Super Kings after a slight bidding war with Mumbai Indians. He made his IPL debut that season, in Pune, against the Delhi Daredevils, thanks to an injury to Deepak Chahar. Asif has only played two matches for the franchise so far, but he has continued to remain in the team as a back-up fast bowler.
Cricket was Asif's first love, but financial constraints had forced him to shelve his dreams of playing cricket as a career to take up work as a storekeeper at a beverage bottling plant. Asif's father is a daily wager who does odd jobs. His mother has been a home-maker. His younger brother is intellectually disabled; his younger sister has had challenges after suffering a brain injury during her formative years. Asif has been the only real breadwinner.
