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

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

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 ...

and also 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 with a guitar, although this role has ...

. 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), formerly known as Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan (BCCP), is a sports governing body for cricket in Pakistan responsible for controlling and organising all tours and matches undertaken by the Pakistan ...

(PCB).

Personal life

The son of an electrician based in

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, and the nephew of domestic left-arm seamer Zahid Saeed, Bilal Asif roots are from the Allo Mahar Sharif village, on the outskirts of Daska and close to

Sialkot Sialkot (Punjabi language, Punjabi, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of the Sialkot District and the List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 12th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined ...

, 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 ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

's squad for the

2018 Pakistan Cup The 2018 Pakistan Cup was the third edition of the Pakistan Cup, a List A cricket competition which was contested between five teams. It was held from 25 April to 6 May 2018, with all the matches played at the Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad. Feder ...

. 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 One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...

(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

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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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

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 PSL may refer to: Sport *Pakistan Super League, a Twenty20 cricket league *Palau Soccer League, top division association football league in Palau *Pilipinas Super League, a professional basketball league *Philippine Super Liga, a defunct profes ...

'', an unofficial anthem for the

Pakistan Super League The Pakistan Super League (PSL), also known as HBL PSL for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in Pakistan, organised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Founded by the PCB in 2015, the league features six city-bas ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Asif, Bilal 1985 births Living 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