It was ‘luck by chance’ for Kerala bowler KM Asif. The pacer got picked by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for Rs 40 lakh in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 auctions. Asif belongs to a small town called Edavanna in Malappuram district of Kerala, which is a football-crazy town situated on Calicut-Nilambur-Gudalur state highway near the banks of Chaliyar Puzha.
Journey from football to cricket
The right-hand fast bowler wanted to be a footballer like most youngsters from his town. The only kind of cricket he played was with the tennis ball. However, after receiving advice from an Under-17 cricketer, he pursued cricket with the hope of making it big one day.
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Things changed when Asif applied at GV Raja Sports School, Trivandrum and got selected in the cricket team. In the initial phase of his career, Asif had pace but was able to fully exploit it with the help of Biju George — one of the talent scouts for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2012-13. However, it was Sanju Samson who helped the 24-year-old fetch a few trials ahead of the IPL auction.
‘Luck By Chance’
The decision of Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) to advance the 2018 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy turned out to be a bliss for Asif, as he was on the lookout for a platform to showcase his talent. He got a chance to represent his state for the first time in domestic cricket and made it count by picking up five wickets in two games — 3 against Goa and 2 against Karnataka.
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The Edavanna pacer can bowl as fast as 144.7 km/hr and his serious pace might trouble a few batsmen if he gets a chance to play under Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy.
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T20 statistics –
Matches -2, Wickets – 5, Economy rate – 7.37
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Prominent players from Kerala in IPL –
Sanju Samson
S Sreesanth
Sachin Baby
Basil Thampi
Iqbal Abdullah
MD Nidheesh
S Midhun
Here’s the CSK squad:
