“Played only for the love of the sport” – Former Kenyan cricketer Aasif Karim opens up on 2003 World Cup campaign, captaining his nation and Kenyan cricket’s decline | Firstsportz Exclusive


“Played only for the love of the sport” – Former Kenyan cricketer Aasif Karim opens up on 2003 World Cup campaign, captaining his nation and Kenyan cricket’s decline | Firstsportz Exclusive
Aasif Karim (Credits – Getty Images)

A Super Sixes match at the 2003 World Cup. Kenya vs Australia. Associate nation vs one of the greatest cricket sides of all time. Should have been a mismatch of gargantuan proportions. The same was evident when Kenya slumped to 175 all-out and Australia were cruising at 110/2.

Enter Aasif Karim. Two dream overs. Three wickets. From 110/2, Australia were reduced to 117/5. The Kenyan cat was among the Aussie pigeons. 2-2-0-3 read the slow left-armer’s figures. Australia were completely caught off-guard. Such was the strength of their batting line-up that Ian Harvey and Andrew Symonds ensured Australia crossed the line safely. But Aasif Karim was the star of the show. His final figures read 8.2-6-7-3. That’s correct. A whopping 6 maidens! Despite the Australian victory, it was Aasif Karim who was awarded the Man of the Match award. And he was 39 years old then!

Although the match was insignificant in the context of the World Cup since both Australia and Kenya had assured themselves of a place in the semi-finals, a Kenyan win would well and truly have shocked the world and might as well have set them on the road to an unprecedented and utterly stunning World Cup win. And one man with an incredible story almost pulled it off for Kenya.

Firstsportz talked to Aasif Karim in an exclusive interview and the Kenyan opened up about his early life, playing career and Kenyan cricket.

Three Generations, Two Sports, One Sporting Dynasty

YouTube video

Aasif Karim was born in Mombasa in a ‘sporting dynasty’. “We are a family that came to Kenya from India about 100 years ago when my grandfather migrated in 1926. He was an avid sports lover and especially cricket. My father Yusuf Karim was a tennis champion for 25 years in Mombasa and a very good cricketer as well, scoring 18 centuries in his short career,” Aasif said.

Just a cursory look at the achievements of the Karims makes it evident that this was a family that lived and breathed sports. Yusuf – a tennis champion for 25 straight years and a county cricketer at the same time. Aasif – Kenyan cricket captain who appeared in three WCs picking up wickets of illustrious personalities like Duncan Fletcher, Mike Atherton, Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting. Irfan (Aasif’s son) – Current captain of the Kenyan cricket team who averages in excess of 40 in ODIs.

A documentary has been made on the Karims titled, “Karims – A Sporting Dynasty” with the tagline, “Three Generations. Two Sports. One Family”. The YouTube link for the same has been attached above.

A one of a kind playing career

Aasif Karim playing tennis (Credits: Getty Images)

Aasif Karim focused on tennis during his early life but cricket was always on the back of his mind. Representing county clubs in local cricket tournaments while also playing tennis was how Aasif rolled. The first call-up to the cricket team happened in 1980 for a tour to Zimbabwe. What would turn out to be a truly remarkable career began in the most remarkable fashion. A wicket. Off the very first ball. And the batsman was Duncan Fletcher.

Aasif then became an integral part of the Kenyan cricket team but also took to playing tennis. He represented and captained Kenya in a Davis Cup tie against Egypt in 1988 before going on to become the Kenyan cricket captain. A nation’s caption in not one but two sports. Aasif Karim’s career was truly one of a kind.

More achievements followed Aasif as the Kenyans defeated the mighty West Indies in the 1996 World Cup. Although, the side could not achieve much of note in the 1996 WC or the 1999 WC where Aasif was the captain, the next campaign was one that was waiting to make jaws drop.

The 2003 World Cup campaign

Aasif Karim (Credits: Getty Images)

Aasif Karim had retired following the 1999 World Cup and become an insurance broker. However, the chairman of selectors, Asif Papamshi persuaded him to return for the 2003 World Cup alone. Aasif agreed. And what a decision it turned out to be. The 2003 World Cup will forever be remembered as the one where an associate nation punched above its weight to etch its name in folklore.

Speaking about the same, Aasif said, “After the 1999 World Cup, I retired after playing for 20 years. After my departure, there were a lot of problems in the team from leadership to lack of discipline. I was asked to help out by coming back in the team for the 2003 World Cup alone as it was important for Kenya to do well and more important to bring some sanity in the team as the players were not behaving well.

The format of the World Cup was different back then as well which meant a side had to consistently notch up wins, first at the group stage and then the Super Sixes to qualify for the semi-final. This was no easy feat that came out of luck. This was an achievement that came out of grit, determination and belief. And Aasif Karim played a significant part in it.

Kenya fell to India in the semi-final but not before pulling off five victories – against Canada, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. But possibly the most exciting of all their matches was one where they lost – against the invincible Aussies.

The memorable match against Australia

Action from the Kenya vs Australia match (Credits – Getty Images)

Australia finished the 2003 World Cup campaign unbeaten. Such was their ruthless dominance that all 11 matches that they played seemed like mere formalities where an Aussie victory was predestined. Just two matches were exceptions. A group stage match against England where Michael Bevan and Andy Bichel pulled off a spectacular run-chase and the match against Kenya. It was all due to one man and one man only – Aasif Karim.

Recalling the match fondly, Aasif said, “The Australia match – Well, that is always a focal point in all of my interviews. It is always a huge challenge to play Australia and very rare to get an opportunity to give them a good fight. By the time I came on to bowl, they were 110 for 2. I thought I would bowl as a formality and that the Aussies were going to ace the chase.

However, after the second delivery, I felt something was there in the wicket. So I focused on doing my job and concentrated on bowling well forgetting who the opponents were. The rest as they say is history. I cornered them on almost every delivery. It was an incredibly special day as I also won the Man of the Match award despite us losing the match. It remains my most memorable match. However, every time I represented Kenya in World Cups was special as well. Overall I’m very satisfied to the core about my playing career with the lack of Test cricket being my only regret.”

Aasif Karim post-retirement

Aasif Karim (Credits – Getty Images)

Following his second and final retirement in 2003, till date, Aasif Karim has taken up several things to do and excelled in them. Speaking about the same, he said, “I have always been in business since my playing days as cricket never paid us enough. We only played for the love of the sport and not for money.

I do several things now. I’m an insurance broker. I have been publishing a sports magazine for the past 20 years (sportsmonthly.co.ke). I organize a sports film festival (www.kisff.or.ke) and now, have also qualified as a fellow in Arbitration and Mediation. (aristocratskenya.com)”

The 57-year-old has also taken to social media recently in an attempt to keep up with the changing times. He said, “I am still learning the ropes of social media. I am working on being digital as mainstream media and newspapers are getting irrelevant.” The links for Aasif Karim’s social media accounts have been attached at the end of the article.

Kenyan cricket’s downfall – What went wrong?

Aasif Karim with umpire Steve Bucknor after the match against Australia (Credits – Getty Images)

Kenya’s performance in the 2003 World Cup was unprecedented but more importantly, encouraging for the nation. It represented promise. Promise of a bright future with them becoming mainstays in the international scenario. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Rather, Kenyan cricket underwent a tremendous decline. After winning 5 matches in 2003, Kenya won just 1 in 2007. In 2011, they lost all 6 of the matches they played. Since then, they haven’t appeared in a WC. So what went wrong? Why did a position of promise become one of collapse?

We asked Aasif Karim. He said, “After our 2003 campaign, a lot of incompetent people and corruption crept in to enjoy the success. They had absolutely no clue on how to manage or take Kenyan cricket to the next level. The results make that very clear. At one time, we were way ahead of Bangladesh. But look at us now.”

But is there a chance for Kenyan cricket to regain lost ground and get back to the glory days of 2003? “In the current situation – no chance. Unfortunately, we are on ground zero

Aasif Karim’s golden words of advice

Aasif Karim (Credits – KISFF)

Before he signed off, we asked Aasif Karim to give a piece of advice for aspiring sportspersons. “In everything one does, he/she must have discipline, desire, determination and focus. Focus on your dreams. We all have one life to live. If we live the life to the fullest then one life is more than enough to leave a mark on this world,” came the reply.

From beginning his career with a wicket off the first ball to captaining his side in tennis and cricket before coming out of retirement to rock the Aussies, Aasif Karim’s story is well and truly an enigmatic one that will be remembered and celebrated for long.

You can follow Aasif Karim on his social media handles:
Twitter: @AasifKarim
Instagram: @aasif.karim
Facebook: @TheKarims

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