Asif Masood

{{Short description|Pakistani cricketer (born 1946)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use Pakistani English|date=September 2019}} {{Infobox cricketer | name = Asif Masood | image = | fullname = Syed Asif Masood Shah | birth_date = {{birth-date and age|23 January 1946}} | birth_place = Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan | country = Pakistan | batting = Right-handed | bowling = Right-arm medium-fast | international = true | internationalspan = 1969-1977

| lastodiagainst = New Zealand | columns = 3 | column1 = Test | matches1 = 16 | runs1 = 93 | bat avg1 = 10.33 | 100s/50s1 = 0/0 | top score1 = 30* | deliveries1 = 3,038 | wickets1 = 38 | bowl avg1 = 41.26 | fivefor1 = 1 | tenfor1 = 0 | best bowling1 = 5/111 | catches/stumpings1 = 5/– | column2 = ODI | matches2 = 7 | runs2 = 10 | bat avg2 = 5.00 | 100s/50s2 = 0/0 | top score2 = 6 | deliveries2 = 402 | wickets2 = 5 | bowl avg2 = 46.79 | fivefor2 = 0 | tenfor2 = 0 | best bowling2 = 2/9 | catches/stumpings2 = 1/– | column3 = FC | matches3 = 121 | runs3 = 635 | bat avg3 = 8.69 | 100s/50s3 = 0/0 | top score3 = 34 | deliveries3 = 17,706 | wickets3 = 305 | bowl avg3 = 29.02 | fivefor3 = 9 | tenfor3 = 0 | best bowling3 = 8/97 | catches/stumpings3 = 38/– | date = 29 May | year = 2026 | source = https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/asif-masood-39012 ESPNCricinfo }}

'''Syed Asif Masood Shah''' ({{langx|ur|آصف مسعود شاہ}}; born 23 January 1946) is a former Pakistani cricketer who played in 16 Test matches and 7 One Day Internationals from 1969 to 1977.<ref name="PRO">{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/cricketers/asif-masood-39012 |title=Asif Masood profile and biography, stats, records, videos |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref> He was educated at Islamia College Lahore.<ref name="SL">{{cite web |url=https://www.scoreline.org/asif-masood-star-of-the-70s-renaissance/ |title=Asif Masood – Star of the 70s renaissance |publisher=ScoreLine |author=Salim Parvez |date=17 April 2017 |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref>

Masood grew up in the Mochi Gate area of Lahore and attended Muslim Model High School before going on to Islamia College. He did not take up cricket seriously until 1958–59, and joined Universal Cricket Club in Lahore in 1961. He later excelled in the Wazir Ali Summer League and inter-university cricket, where he emerged as one of Punjab University's leading pace bowlers.<ref name="SL" />

He made his first-class debut for Lahore Whites against Karachi Blues in the 1963–64 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, taking 4 for 98. After missing a season because of a back injury, he returned to take 20 wickets at 16.70 for Punjab University in the 1967–68 Ayub Trophy. In the same phase of his domestic career, he took 5 for 59 against Sargodha and then recorded career-best first-class figures of 8 for 97 against Lahore Greens.<ref name="SL" />

Masood made his Test debut for Pakistan against England at Lahore in February 1969, taking four wickets in the match.<ref name="SL" /> His finest international performance came in the 1971 tour of England, when he took 5 for 111 in England's first innings and 4 for 49 in the second at Edgbaston, finishing with match figures of 9 for 160 in a drawn Test.<ref name="ENG71">{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-england-1971-61463/england-vs-pakistan-1st-test-63073/full-scorecard |title=England v Pakistan, 1st Test, Pakistan tour of England 1971 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref> The performance led to his selection for the World XI for the 1971–72 series in Australia.<ref name="SL" /><ref name="WXI">{{cite web |url=https://en.espn.co.uk/db/ARCHIVE/1970S/1971-72/WORLD-XI_IN_AUS/WORLD-XI_IN_AUS_NOV1971-FEB1972_TOUR-STATS.html |title=World XI in Australia, 1971/72: First-Class Tour Statistics |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref>

On Pakistan's 1974 tour of England, Masood played an important role in the team's unbeaten first-class campaign. Against Middlesex at Lord's, he took five wickets in 11 balls, including a hat-trick, and he finished the tour with 29 first-class wickets at an average of 20.79.<ref name="SL" /><ref>{{cite web |url=https://i.imgci.com/db/ARCHIVE/1970S/1974/PAK_IN_ENG/PAK_MIDDX_29JUN-02JUL1974.html |title=Middlesex v Pakistanis at Lord's, 29 June–2 July 1974 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo archive |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref> In the second ODI at Edgbaston later that summer, he took 2 for 9 and was named player of the match as Pakistan won the Prudential Trophy series 2–0.<ref name="ENG74ODI">{{cite web |url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/pakistan-tour-of-england-1974-61452/england-vs-pakistan-2nd-odi-64954/full-scorecard |title=England v Pakistan, 2nd ODI, Pakistan tour of England 1974 |publisher=ESPNcricinfo |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref>

Although primarily a specialist bowler, Masood occasionally contributed useful lower-order runs. In the first Test against England at Headingley in 1974, he made 4 not out in a last-wicket stand of 62 with Sarfraz Nawaz. His highest Test score was an unbeaten 30 against the West Indies at Lahore in February 1975.<ref name="SL" /><ref name="WI75">{{cite web |url=https://www.howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Matches/MatchScorecard.asp?MatchCode=0756 |title=Pakistan v West Indies, 1st Test, 1974/75 |publisher=Howstat |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref> His unusual run-up, beginning with a backward step, prompted John Arlott to liken him to "Groucho Marx chasing a pretty waitress".<ref name="TRIB">{{cite news |url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/789426/a-history-of-cricket-in-pakistan |title=A history of cricket in Pakistan |work=The Express Tribune |author=Ikram Bari Cheema |date=11 November 2014 |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref>

Masood's international career ended after the 1976–77 tour of Australia. After marrying in the UK, he became a businessman, owning first a travel agency then a post office in Bury, Lancashire.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 May 1997 |title=Stamps not stumps |language=en |work=Lancashire Telegraph |url=https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/6179736.stamps-not-stumps/ |access-date=2020-07-13}}</ref> He currently resides in Bury with his wife and four children.<ref name="SL" /><ref name="JANG">{{cite news |url=https://jang.com.pk/news/144348 |title=دل آج بھی پاکستان کیلئے دھڑکتا ہے سابق فاسٹ بولر آصف مسعود |work=Daily Jang |date=19 November 2016 |language=ur |accessdate=1 May 2026}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masood, Asif}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Pakistani cricketers Category:Pakistan Test cricketers Category:Pakistan One Day International cricketers Category:Cricketers at the 1975 Cricket World Cup Category:Lahore cricketers Category:Punjab University cricketers Category:Pakistan Universities cricketers Category:Pakistan International Airlines cricketers Category:Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom Category:Northumberland cricketers Category:Cricketers from Lahore Category:Lahore Whites cricketers Category:Lahore Greens cricketers Category:Pakistan International Airlines A cricketers Category:North Zone (Pakistan) cricketers Category:South Zone (Pakistan) cricketers Category:Government Islamia College alumni