Mohammad Bilal Asif (born 24 September 1985) is a Pakistani

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er who represents the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

as well a

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

. In August 2018, he was one of thirty-three players to be awarded a central contract for the 2018–19 season by the

Pakistan Cricket Board The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan national cricket team. A member of the International Cricket Coun ...

(PCB).

Personal life

The son of an electrician father based in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, and the nephew of domestic left-arm seamer

Zahid Saeed Zahid Saeed (born July 5, 1981 in Alo Mahar, Punjab) is a right-handed Pakistani cricketer who bowls left-arm at a fast-medium pace. He played for Pakistan in the U-19 Cricket World Cup in both 1998 and 2000, finishing as the leading wicket-taker ...

, Bilal Asif roots are from the Allo Mahar Sharif village, on the outskirts of

Daska Daska ( ur, ), is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The city is the capital of Daska Tehsil, one of four tehsils of Sialkot District. It is the 50th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is 29th largest by population in Punjab ...

and close to

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

, while in terms of education, he has a degree in arts and is himself fond of singing.

Cricket career

Domestic career

Asif holds the record for scoring the most runs on debut in a Twenty20 match, with 114. In April 2018, he was named in

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

's squad for the 2018 Pakistan Cup. He was the joint-leading wicket-taker for Sindh during the tournament, with six dismissals in four matches. In March 2019, he was named in Federal Areas' squad for the

2019 Pakistan Cup The 2019 Pakistan Cup was the fourth edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 2 to 12 April 2019, with all the matches played at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The Pakis ...

. In September 2019, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the 2019–20 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament. In January 2021, he was named in Central Punjab's squad for the

2020–21 Pakistan Cup The 2020–21 Pakistan Cup was a List A cricket competition that took place in Karachi, Pakistan from 8 January to 31 January 2021. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were the defending champions after they beat Baluchistan. However, after the new domestic stru ...

International career

He was named in Pakistan's

One Day International A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...

(ODI) squad for their tour of Sri Lanka in July 2015, although he did not play. He made his ODI debut for Pakistan against Zimbabwe on 3 October 2015. In his second ODI against Zimbabwe on 5 October 2015, Bilal took his first international five-wicket haul. Zimbabwe were all out for 161 runs and Bilal had figures of 5 for 25. He also hit 38 off 39 deliveries later on, while opening the batting. However, after the match he was reported for a suspect bowling action. He was recalled to Pakistan's Test squad on 19 October for the tour against England, after undergoing an evaluation on his bowling action. His action was cleared by the ICC on 30 October 2015. In September 2017, he was named in Pakistan's

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

squad for their series against Sri Lanka, but he did not play. In September 2018, he was named in Pakistan's Test squad for their series against Australia. He made his Test debut for Pakistan against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on 7 October 2018. He became the 11th bowler for Pakistan to take a five-wicket haul on debut in Tests. In June 2020, he was named as one of four reserve players for Pakistan's tour to England during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Music career

In 2020 he launched his career as a singer-songwriter with the release of the Punjabi track ''Akhiyan''. In 2021 he wrote and sung ''Yeh Hai PSL'', an unofficial anthem for the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league contested during February and March of every year by six teams representing six cities of Pakistan. The league was founded on 9 September 2015 with five teams by the Paki ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asif, Bilal 1985 births Living people Punjabi people Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistan One Day International cricketers Sialkot cricketers Quetta Gladiators cricketers Lahore Qalandars cricketers Sialkot Stallions cricketers Cricketers from Sialkot Cricketers who have taken five wickets on Test debut Central Punjab cricketers Pakistani male singer-songwriters Pakistani singer-songwriters Punjabi-language singers