Asif Iqbal Razvi (

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

: آصف اقبال رضوی, born 6 June 1943) is a Pakistani former professional cricketer who captained the

Pakistan national cricket team The Pakistan men's national cricket team represents Pakistan in international cricket. It is controlled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the governing body for cricket in Pakistan, which is a Full Member of the International Cricket Counc ...

and

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ken ...

. He went on to become a match referee. Born in

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, Asif Iqbal is related to former

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

captain Ghulam Ahmed and Indian tennis star

Sania Mirza Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian former professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles ...

. He played as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are cons ...

who batted right-handed and bowled right-arm medium pace deliveries. Asif played domestically for

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

National Bank of Pakistan National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) is a Pakistani government-owned multinational commercial bank which is a subsidiary of State Bank of Pakistan. It is headquartered in Karachi, Pakistan. As of December 2022, it has over 1,500 branches across Paki ...

and

Pakistan International Airlines Pakistan International Airlines, commonly known as PIA, is the flag carrier of Pakistan. With its primary hub at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi, the airline also operates from its secondary hubs at Allama Iqbal International Airport ...

. After learning his cricket in Hyderabad, India, he emigrated to Pakistan in 1961, where he opened the bowling with swing bowling before concentrating on his batting that was noted for its footwork and cavalier cover-driving. In 1977, he played in

World Series Cricket World Series Cricket (WSC) was a commercial professional cricket competition staged between 1977 and 1979 which was organised by Kerry Packer and his Australian television network, Nine Network. WSC ran in commercial competition to established ...

competition for the World XI side. On his Test match debut, against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in Karachi in the 1964–1965 series, Asif batted at number 10. After developing back problems, Asif began to focus on his batting and gradually worked his way up Pakistan's batting order. In the series against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 1967, Asif scored his maiden Test century, making 146 runs batting at number 9 at

The Oval The Oval, currently named for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club sinc ...

, sharing in a then

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) ...

record partnership for the ninth wicket with

Intikhab Alam Intikhab Alam Khan (Urdu:; born 28 December 1941) is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who played in 47 Test matches and four One Day Internationals from 1959 to 1977. He captained Pakistan in 17 Tests between 1969 and 1975. He al ...

.This was also the then highest score by a number 9 batsman in Test matches in England (until exceeded by

Stuart Broad Stuart Christopher John Broad (born 24 June 1986) is an English former cricketer who played Test cricket for the England cricket team and was One Day and Twenty20 International captain. Broad was a member of the England team that won the 2010 ...

in 2010). According to ''Wisden'', when he reached his hundred: "An amazing scene followed. Hundreds of Pakistanis raced to the wicket and hoisted Asif shoulder high. The game was held up for five minutes and when a squad of police rescued him, the poor fellow was bruised and battered". In 1968 he was named one of the

Wisden Cricketers of the Year The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based "primarily for their influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...

and captained Pakistan at the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

and

1979 Cricket World Cup The 1979 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '79) was the second edition of the Cricket World Cup. Organised by the International Cricket Conference, it was held in England from 9 to 23 June 1979. The tournament was once aga ...

s, leading the team to the semi-finals in 1979. At Test level, he captained Pakistan team in a six Test series against India in 1979/80 before retiring from Test cricket after 58 matches. With Kent he was part of a successful side which won both the

County Championship The County Championship, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Rothesay County Championship, is the only domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales. Established in 1890, it is organised by the England and Wales Cri ...

and the

Benson and Hedges Cup The Benson & Hedges Cup was a one-day cricket competition for first-class counties in England and Wales that was held from 1972 to 2002, one of cricket's longest sponsorship deals. It was the third major one-day competition established in Engla ...

in 1978, and the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1973 and 1976, Asif winning the

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

award for an all-round performance in the 1973 final. He was also

, although appearing on the losing side, in the Gillette Cup final of 1971.

Personal life

Iqbal is married and lives in Kent. He has two sons, one of whom is a cricketer and businessman.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iqbal Razvi, Asif 1943 births Living people Pakistani people of Hyderabadi descent Pakistani cricketers Pakistan Test cricket captains Pakistan One Day International cricketers Pakistan Test cricketers Pakistani cricket captains Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Kent cricket captains Kent cricketers Muhajir people Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England World Series Cricket players Wisden Cricketers of the Year Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1979 Cricket World Cup Cricketers from Hyderabad, India Recipients of the Pride of Performance Karachi cricketers Karachi A cricketers Karachi Blues cricketers Karachi Whites cricketers National Bank of Pakistan cricketers Sindh cricketers Hyderabad cricketers Pakistan Eaglets cricketers South Zone cricketers Indian emigrants to Pakistan Pakistan International Airlines A cricketers Pakistan International Airlines B cricketers Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Cricketers from Karachi