Mohammad Amir

Mohammad Amir, one of Pakistan’s brightest prospects burst into the cricketing scene in 2007/08. He was picked out as a special talent by his idol Wasim Akram long before he went on the tour to England with the Pakistan Under-19 side. By 2010 Amir emerged as one of the best fast bowlers to be produced by Pakistan.

In 2009, Amir impressed on the domestic circuit with his pace and ability to swing the ball both ways, when he played for National Bank of Pakistan. In his debut season he picked up a total of 55 wickets and that earned him a call-up into the Pakistan national side for the World Twenty20 in 2009. He announced his arrival, bowling with discipline, pace and accuracy. Amir played a crucial role in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup campaign where he held his nerve to bowl several last overs to give Pakistan crucial wins. He carried his good form into the ODIs picking up a career-best 4/28 against Sri Lanka and then went on to bowl brilliantly in the Champions Trophy. Amir made an impressive start to his Test career picking up six scalps.

Following on tours to New Zealand, Australia and England he continued his good form and bowled with heart. That helped him grow as a mature bowler and during Pakistan’s tour to England, he became the youngest bowler to reach 50 wickets in Test cricket. In 2011 he was handed a five-year ban by the ICC for his involvement in the spot-fixing controversy. That setback didn’t stop him from working hard on his bowling and he learnt his lessons the hard way. The young man experienced both the highs and the lows in a very short time.

Amir made his comeback to international cricket in the tour of New Zealand in 2016 where he finished with 5 wickets in 2 matches. 2016 Asia Cup was a turning point in Amir’s career as he was the pick of the bowlers. His best performance came against India when he reduced the Men in Blue to 8 for 3 while defending just 83 runs. Virat Kohli was so impressed with his performance that he gifted his bat to Amir after the game. Amir’s Test career though failed to scale the same heights that it once promised in his initial days.

Mohammad Amir was exceptional in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India where he grabbed 3 wickets for just 16 runs including the big wicket of Virat Kohli. After the Champions Trophy, there was a consistent decline in Amir’s bowling. He lost his touch and was also dropped from the provisional squad for the 2019 World Cup. After the diabolical series against England, the selectors decided that they needed experience in the World Cup squad and included Amir at the last moment. That moved paid off as Amir finished as the highest wicket-taker for Pakistan in the tournament with 17 wickets. Soon after the mega event, Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from Test cricket stating that he wants to focus more on the shorter formats of the game.