This is called a real all-rounder, he/she played cricket as well as tennis for the country, now his/her son is in the national team

New Delhi. The Kenyan team has not been able to make it to the ODI World Cup since 2011. The performance graph of this team has fallen in the last decade but not many people would know that the Kenyan team has also made it to the semi-finals of a World Cup. A non-test playing country, Kenya surprised everyone by making it to the last four of the World Cup in the year 2003. Apart from South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya were the co-hosts of this World Cup.

In its journey to the World Cup semi-finals, the Kenyan cricket team had the advantage of a boycott of matches in Zimbabwe by some established teams due to political instability, as well as spectacular victories against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The team was coached by former Indian cricketer and member of the 1983 World Cup winning Indian team, Sandeep Patil. Incidentally, Kenya’s World Cup 2003 campaign ended with a defeat against India in the semi-finals. The Kenyan team for the 2003 World Cup included star players like Steve Tikolo, Morris Odumbe, Martin Suji, Collins Obuya and also Asif Karim who, keeping the team’s interest paramount, had postponed his/her decision to retire from international cricket after the 1999 World Cup till 2003.

Bowler who took wicket on the 1st ball of ODI match most number of times, one player from India in top-3

Took 3 wickets for 7 runs against Australia

Left-arm orthodox spinner Karim was in the news in this World Cup by taking three wickets for just 7 runs in 8.2 overs against a giant team like Australia. In the match, he/she took wickets of batsmen like Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehman and Brad Hogg. Due to his/her tight bowling, the Australian team had to take five wickets to achieve a modest target of 175 runs.

The bowler who took a hat-trick on his/her birthday, debuted against India, Sachin became the first victim

Apart from cricket, he/she is also a good tennis player
Asif Karim, who has also captained the Kenyan team, has been a good tennis player apart from cricket. Asif, who played 31 ODIs for Kenya, also played tennis for the country. he/she was part of the Kenyan team in the 1988 Davis Cup and played two singles and one doubles match against Egypt. In the doubles match, the pair of Karim and Kush Bhardwaj accepted defeat after four sets.

Saw Lara’s 501 run innings and also Hanif’s 499, played cricket from England

Made ODI debut against India
Asif Karim started his/her ODI career against India in the 1996 World Cup in Cuttack. In this match, he/she took the first wicket by dismissing India’s opener Ajay Jadeja. he/she also played his/her last ODI against India. This semi-final of the World Cup 2023 was disappointing for him/her in terms of both ball and bat. he/she could neither take any wicket in this match nor score any runs (0*). Team India, captained by Sourav Ganguly, won this one-sided match by 91 runs and made it to the finals, but had to face defeat from Australia in the title match.

In his/her career of 34 ODIs, Asif Karim took 27 wickets (best 5/33 against Bangladesh). he/she also scored 228 runs which included a half century. Asif Karim was a part of Kenya’s team in three World Cups. In the 1996 World Cup, he/she took 4 wickets in 6 matches, in the 1999 World Cup, he/she took 1 wicket in 5 matches and in the 2003 World Cup, he/she took 3 wickets.

Played only one Test and one ODI, neither took wickets nor scored runs, garnered attention for wrong reasons

Son Irfan also played cricket for Kenya
Apart from Asif Karim, his/her son Irfan Karim has also represented Kenya in cricket. While Asif was originally a bowler, Irfan played as a batsman. 31-year-old wicketkeeper batsman Irfan has so far scored 396 runs (average 44.00) in 9 ODIs with the help of two centuries. During this, his/her highest score has been 112 runs. In T20I, he/she has scored 1227 runs (average 35.05) with the help of 8 half-centuries, his/her top score being 71 not out.

tag: Cricket News, ODI World Cup