Pakistan Cricket: Life after http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Amir-c76675 - Opinion
Life mostly never goes the way one plans it, at least that is what Pakistan’s young pace sensation Mohammad Amir may be saying right now.
Who could have thought that a 17 year old kid from one of the poorest houses in a small town of Gujar http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Khan-c71319 would make it big in international cricket. He made such an impressive entry in the world of cricket that at his tender age he was being labelled as
the new http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Wasim-Akram-c96292 for Pakistan.
Veterans like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rameez-Raja-c2277 who played with Akram, believed that Amir was even more talented than Wasim when he made his international debut. These were some mighty words of encouragement for the youngster but perhaps the fame and the spotlight was a bit too
much for him and like any other teenage kid he also became a victim of lust and greed.
No one had ever imagined in their wildest dreams to wake up one day and learn that Amir had been implicated in a spot-fixing scandal. But reality is just too cruel and this indeed happened during the Test series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013.
Now a defunct British tabloid “News of the World” busted a Bookmaker http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Salman-Butt-c2418, the young Test captain of the Pakistan. According to the tabloid an undercover journalist had paid Majeed to bribe certain Pakistan players
to bowl no-balls during the Lord’s Test match.
The skipper, Butt chose Amir and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Asif-c1993 for the heinous task and thus the young Amir bowled perhaps the most controversial no-ball in the history of cricket. After this delivery the evidence was provided to the British police by the tabloid and an
immediate raid was carried out at the hotel where the Pakistan team was staying.
Money and cell phones were seized from the trio’s room and they were barred from taking part in the remaining matches of the tournament by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Later the International Cricket Council (ICC) enforced a provisional suspension on
the players.
An anti-corruption tribunal was setup by the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Qatar-c2986.
The hearing took place behind closed doors and the media was not allowed to get any details of the hearing. It was expected that the verdict would be made public right after the conclusion of the hearing. However, Amir’s lawyer http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Shahid-c89347 Karim requested the
tribunal to delay the verdict so that the members of the tribunal could reconsider all options before making a final judgement.
February 5th was chosen to be the date that would decide the future of the three players. While many in Pakistan were hoping for a lenient punishment for Amir, there were some even thinking of a complete acquittal of the trio. However, keeping
in mind the evidence against the players the ICC banned Butt for 10 years, Asif for seven and Amir for five.
This was perhaps the biggest blow for Amir on a personal level because being a teenager he perhaps had not grasped the seriousness of the whole fiasco because before the verdict he had said that he was hopeful to get acquitted. In a local television channel
he had also shown his readiness to join the national team for the World Cup.
Pakistan has already started looking for another potential bowler who will carry the bowling attack in times to come and fill the void left by Amir. Perhaps the new Wasim Akram may come in the form of bowler http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Junaid-Khan-c77037 who has shown commendable talent while
playing for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755.
Having said that, one thing is for sure that the ban has served as a catalyst in rooting out corruption from the sport and this judgement should be a lesson for future cricketers. The verdict has destroyed the career of the three players but has redeemed
the sport of cricket to its full glory.
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