Former pacer Mohammad Asif lashed out at the Pakistani pacers for not being able to deliver long spells in Test cricket, suggesting that the players are older than their birth certificates state. He further added that the bowlers don’t know how to keep the opponent on the front foot and leak singles easily.

Just when the cricketing world is lauding the Pakistan Test team for showing intensity and stubbornness against New Zealand during the first Test, Mohammad Asif slammed the bowling attack for being ineffective.

The former Test cricketer revealed that the bowling problem roots from the pacers manipulating their birth dates to make a cut over their contemporaries. Talking on Kamran Akmal’s YouTube channel, not referring to any names, Asif said,” They are so aged. It is written as 17-18 years on paper, but they are actually 27-28 years old. They don’t have the flexibility to bowl 20-25 overs. They don’t know how to bend the body and they become stiff after a while. They are not able to stand on the field after bowling a 5-6 over spell.”

According to 38-year-old’s theory, the current lot of pacers representing the country in New Zealand – Naseem Shah (17), Shaheen Afridi (20), Mohammad Abbas (30) and Faheem Ashraf (26)– are older than their birth certificates say. The pacer who served a ban of five years over a spot-fixing scandal, criticised the bowling unit over the years, stating he would ‘salivate’ seeing the New Zealand pitches.

“I feel it might have been 5-6 years since a fast bowler took 10 wickets in a match. We used to salivate after seeing the pitches like the ones in New Zealand. There was no question of leaving the ball as a fast bowler. I never used to leave the ball before taking a five-wicket haul,” he added.

Having played alongside the likes of Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar, Asif said the bowlers need to learn how to bowl tightly and stop singles.

“These kids do not have the knowledge. They don’t know how to keep the batsmen on the front foot, not give them a single and how to bowl on the wickets. When they try to bowl on the wickets, it goes down the leg-side. They do not have the control,” Asif said.

Pakistan lost the first match by 101 runs despite stupendous knocks by Fawad Alam and Mohammed Rizwan. The second Test of the series will begin at Christchurch from Sunday.