Syed Ashar Ahmed Zaidi (; born 13 July 1981) is a Pakistani first-class cricketer. Zaidi is a left-handed batsman and left-arm orthodox spin bowler who is considered an all-rounder. He has played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

for

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

in Pakistan and for

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

in England and has represented the Pakistan A cricket team at international level. He holds a British passport and as a result can play as a domestic player in England.Ashar Zaidi: Sussex sign all-rounder on two-year deal
BBC Sport, 2013-11-18. Retrieved 2014-02-19. In August 2024, he was banned from all cricket for a period of five years by the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

First-class career

Zaidi began his career playing for Islamabad Cricket Association in Pakistan. He appeared 88 times for the team between 1999 and 2010 and made appearances for other teams in Pakistan during the period. During the period between 2010 and 2013, he played club cricket in

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 ...

for Accrington Cricket Club as well as appearing for Gazi Tank in the Dhaka Premier League in

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Zaidi joined Sussex County Cricket Club on non-contract terms towards the end of the 2013 season making two first-class appearances. Following the season, he signed a two-year contract with the club. During a

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 ...

match in September 2015, Zaidi was abused by English bowler Craig Overton whilst he was batting. Overton received a two match ban as a result of the incident. Zaidi later called on Overton to apologise for the abuse.ECB denies double standards after Pakistan player told 'get back to own country'
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 2015-12-10. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Ashar Zaidi: Somerset's Craig Overton must apologise for 'racist behaviour'
''

'', 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Ashar Zaidi calls for crackdown on racist rants after Craig Overton ban
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', 2015-12-13. Retrieved 2016-01-26.Craig Overton: Ashar Zaidi wants apology for alleged slur
BBC Sport, 2015-12-14. Retrieved 2016-01-26. After making 19 first-class appearances for the county, Zaidi was released by Sussex at the end of the 2015 season before signing a one-year contract with

in January 2016.Sussex: Chris Liddle, Steffan Piolet and Ashar Zaidi leave
BBC Sport, 2015-09-30. Retrieved 2016-01-25.Trio released as Sussex begin rebuilding job
''The Argus'', 2015-10-06. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
Cricinfo, 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25.Ashar Zaidi: Essex sign former Sussex all-rounder
BBC Sport, 2016-01-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25. He played a total of 65 games for Essex over three seasons, but was released at the end of 2018.Essex hand Peter Siddle two-year contract
Cricinfo, 2018-09-07. Retrieved 2019-12-18.

Franchise and T20 career

Bangladesh Premier League

Zaidi was selected by Comilla Victorians in the draft for the 2015 Bangladesh Premier League. He won the player of the tournament award, taking 17 wickets and scoring 215 runs as Comilla won the tournament.A season to remember for professional Comilla
Cricinfo, 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-01-25. Zaidi's simple approach to both batting and bowling during the tournament was noted,
Cricinfo, 2015-12-12. Retrieved 2016-01-25. although his performance was generally considered a surprise given his lack of Twenty20 experience prior to the tournament.

Ban from cricket

In August 2024, Ashar Zaidi, who was the batting coach, along with Pune Devils team co-owners Parag Sanghvi and Krishan Kumar Choudhary were handed bans after admitting to various breaches of the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB
Anti-Corruption Code for Participants
of the Abu Dhabi T10 cricket league. The charges all relate to the 2021 Abu Dhabi T10 cricket league, and were brought on by the

(ICC) on behalf of the ECB. Asher Zaidi was provisionally suspended on 19 September 2023, and subsequently banned from all cricket for a period of five years. He will be re-eligible to participate in cricket from 19 September 2027 onwards as the ban has been backdated to the date of suspension.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zaidi, Ashar 1981 births Living people Pakistani cricketers Essex cricketers Sussex cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in England Islamabad cricketers Rawalpindi cricketers Khan Research Laboratories cricketers Federal Areas cricketers Rawalpindi Rams cricketers Islamabad Leopards cricketers Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited cricketers Twelvers Islamabad United cricketers Comilla Victorians cricketers Pakistani expatriate cricketers in Bangladesh Gazi Tank cricketers Legends of Rupganj cricketers Kala Bagan Cricket Academy cricketers Cricketers from Karachi Pakistani Shia Muslims