Asif Mujtaba

Mohammad Asif Mujtaba is a Pakistani cricket coach and former cricketer who represented his country between 1986 and 1997. He played in 25 Test matches and 66 One Day Internationals during his professional career.

Early life and education

Mujtaba was born on 4 November 1967 in Karachi. While specific details regarding his formal schooling are not provided, he entered the international cricket arena at a young age. In November 1986, he made his Test debut against the West Indies when he was barely 19 years old.

Career

The selectors chose Mujtaba over the more experienced Wasim Raja because Saleem Malik was injured. This initial period proved difficult for the young batsman. He scored only 32 runs across four innings in that series, and a subsequent failure against England resulted in him being left out of the national side for five years.

His domestic success eventually led to a recall for the 1992 tour of England. During this period, he achieved his first Test fifty with a score of 59 at Lord's. He followed this performance with scores of 57 and 40 during a high-scoring match at Old Trafford.

Mujtaba continued to feature in various series throughout the early 1990s. He recorded scores of 59 and 41 on the 1993 tour of the West Indies. During the series against Zimbabwe later that year, he hit three half-centuries, but he struggled to convert those fifties into hundreds. The rise of Inzamam-ul-Haq as a middle-order batsman meant Mujtaba remained in and out of the side between 1994 and 1997. He served briefly as the deputy captain to Saleem Malik during the 1994–95 period.

His final Test match took place against Sri Lanka in April 1997. In One Day International cricket, he achieved a career-best score of 113 during a 171 run partnership with Saeed Anwar against Sri Lanka in 1993. He is particularly remembered for his performances against Australia. In January 1987 at Perth, he scored 60 not out from 56 balls to secure a one-wicket victory. He also hit a six off a Steve Waugh full toss on the final ball in Hobart in December 1992 to tie a match.

After retiring from professional cricket, Mujtaba moved to Plano, Texas. He began coaching children at the Dallas Youth Cricket League, where he currently instructs the under-15 and under-17 teams. In October 2020, he was appointed head coach of the United States women's national under-19 cricket team. This role focused on identifying junior female talent for the 2023 ICC Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup. He also serves as an assistant coach to the USA women's national team.

Awards and recognition

Mujtaba demonstrated significant leadership skills during his domestic career. In March 1987, he led the Pakistani under-25 side on a tour of Zimbabwe. A decade later, he captained the Pakistan 'A' team to victory in the 3rd SAARC Quadrangular Trophy in Dhaka. He scored 67 against Bangladesh in the first match and finished with 91 against India 'A' in the final. Consequently, he was named both the Player of the Final and the Player of the Tournament.