Kevin Pietersen has said former Pakistan quick Mohammad Asif was the best he ever faced, and revealed a lot of batsmen “were happy he got banned”.

Pietersen was responding to a fan on Twitter who had tagged him in an old clip in which the Pakistan seamer induced an edge off the England batsman with a ripper.

Pietersen retweeted the video, saying: “I think there’s plenty batters around the world that were happy he got banned! He was the best I faced! I had no idea against him!”

The views were echoed earlier this month by former South Africa opener Hashim Amla, who had also picked out Asif as the best bowler he’d faced. “The best bowler I’ve ever faced is Mohammad Asif,” Amla told Peshawar Zalmi’s official website.

I think there’s plenty batters around the world that were happy he got banned!
He was the best I faced!
I had no idea against him! https://t.co/AoN2xN2oX1

— Kevin Pietersen? (@KP24) April 13, 2020

“His accuracy was amazing. With the new ball, he moved it both ways and every ball felt like a question that could get you out. I found him to be an amazing bowler.

Asif was among the many prodigiously talented Pakistan pacemen, but his career was cut short – he played just 23 Tests, 38 ODIs and 11 T20Is – before being caught up in the spot-fixing scandal of 2010. He was handed a seven-year ban, with two years suspended, having been found guilty of accepting corrupt payments.

Since his ban elapsed, he has returned to the domestic scene in Pakistan, and played his last match in November 2018 in the Qaid-e-Azam Trophy for WAPDA.