The phrase "asked instead for" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when indicating that someone requested something different from what was initially expected or suggested.
Example: "When the manager presented the proposal, the client asked instead for a more detailed budget breakdown."
Alternatives: "requested instead for" or "sought instead for".
Wendell asked instead for No. 99, which he immediately received.
Post asked instead for "abstract and stimulating patterns in strong and beautiful colors".
He asked instead for a "Celebration of Life" and for his ashes to be mailed to people he admired.
The bankrupt carrier asked instead for $1.1 billion, and said it would seek more private cash and cut costs further.
(When he married, his father-in-law offered to lend him the price of a house; Mr. Golisano asked instead for a loan to buy two small rental properties and, he recalls, "became a landlord at 21").
At one point, the Twins were said to be holding out for Hughes and Ian Kennedy, another of the Yankees' attractive triumvirate of major league-ready young pitchers (the untouchable Joba Chamberlain being the third), but the Yankees wouldn't give up both, so the Twins asked instead for Marquez, a 23-year-old right-hander.
He asks instead for a quickie sacrifice.
In the 1954 decision, the Court declined to specify the appropriate remedy for school segregation, asking instead for further arguments about it.
Early in the year Washington also insisted Israel stop all settlement activity, but has since significantly softened its position, asking instead for Israeli "restraint".
Tabea Roschka, a German student studying at Sciences Po, in Paris, suggested that they ask instead for a list of five "favorite things" in non-hierarchical form.
Finally, in the third motion, Mr. Lay waives his right to a trial by jury, asking instead for Judge Lake to render a verdict.
