Pakistan coach Waqar Younis backs Mohammad Amir’s return to international cricket after serving a five-year suspension for spot-fixing.
In January, Amir was allowed to play domestic cricket and has been free since September, when his international ban ended, to play anywhere.
“He [Amir] has served his punishment and he deserves to come back in the [cricketing] community and enhance his profession,” Younis said in Lahore on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
Amir deliberately bowled two no-balls in a Test against England at Lord’s in 2010, pleaded guilty and served three months in a young offenders’ institution in England.
The other teammates in the scandal, captain Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, also had their bans lifted in September. All three are going through the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) rehabilitation program, which includes anti-corruption lectures to young players.
Unlike the much older Butt and Asif, the 23-year-old Amir has been regaining form.
In Bangladesh’s Twenty20 league, the left-arm fast bowler has taken nine wickets in seven matches for the Chittagong Vikings and he has impressed Younis.
“He is in very good form ... he has proved to the ICC [International Cricket Council] and he has proved to the PCB that he is on the right track, and it’s our responsibility that we should give him another opportunity,” Younis said.
Younis had a detailed discussion on Amir’s future with PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan and said: “We are all on the same page” about the player’s future in international cricket.
Khan said he was also considering Amir’s return to international cricket, but needs to sit with the national team and talk to them first.
Not everyone seems to be happy to see Amir back playing.
Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez reportedly turned down an offer to play for Chittagong Vikings, as he felt uncomfortable about sharing a dressing room with Amir.
Amir “has performed well over the last four-five months, and is knocking on the door for us to consider him,” Khan said. “If the coach and selectors decide that Amir has to come back, we will have to seek permission from the PCB board of governors before taking a decision on him.”
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