BY:- Ehsan Khan
Sultan of swing Wasim Akram recognized that young boy in coaching camp of young Pakistani fast bowlers & in year’s time that lad graduated to international level of #cricket. Made international debut in WCT20 & played major role in #pakistan win when he dismissed tournament best batsman Tilkaratne Dilshan in final of the tournament & the fairy tale begins. That young guy with all the attributes of becoming worlds one of the greatest cricketer was Mohammad Amir; he got praised from most of the cricketing pundits. He found the world under his feet after demolishing England & Australia’s batting lineup with some devastating swing bowling. Just after one year in international cricket his world crashed upside down when his name arose in spot fixing scandal & he had been found guilty. He was celebrating his 50th test wicket & enjoying his record of becoming the youngest player to have taken 50 test wickets. The guy certainly changed history in his brief career when for the first in 100+ years Wisden didn’t named his 5th player of the year in 2010. Amir receive verdict that he can not participate in any type of cricket till next 5 years.
Now the things have changed with new ICC policy of allowing banned players to participate in domestic cricket before the end of their ban period. This new rule brought a life line for players like Mohammad Amir who were anxious to play cricket which supposed to be their life.
Mohammad amir will be playing his first major domestic tournament T20 super eight starting from today. In past we have seen players like Gibbs from South Africa & currently Marlon Samules of West Indies had been welcomed by their teams after serving banned period which were imposed due to their links with match fixing but the culture in our part of the world is different. We have already seen interviews of ex-Pakistani players & administrators in which they don’t want Amir to be back in Pakistan’s side as it will not help Team Pakistan’s cultures.
This will be a tougher journey for Mohammad Amir to play with the same guy’s as he had lost his integrity & he might be bashed & booed by the crowd as well for his previous acts. Amir needs a fresh start but will he be able to cope the pressure & do he posses the mental strength to come up with honors once again.
May be one series winning performance can earn him same respect again; what he has achieved in his brief one year career. Only time will tell how long Amir can extend his journey as he is just 23 years old.