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Friday March 29, 2024

Be patient with Amir, says Wasim

By our correspondents
August 28, 2016

Former Pakistan captain believes the young pacer will regain golden form soon

LONDON: When Mohammad Amir shattered the stumps of Jason Roy in the very first over of England’s run-chase here at Lord’s on Saturday, many Pakistan fans must have hoped that the pacer will finally exhibit the sort of heroics which once made him the most exciting fast bowler in world cricket, writes Khalid Hussain.

But throughout this summer Amir had fallen short of living up to expectations and the second One-day International was no exception.

The left-armer bowled well but it was far from the sort of performance that many have been expecting of him since his return to international cricket after serving a five-year ban for spot-fixing.

“If people are expecting Amir to just come after spending so many years away from cricket and start taking wickets then they are expecting too much,” says Wasim Akram.

The former Pakistan captain told ‘The News’ here at Lord’s that it is not easy for a fast bowler to “get into his zone” after staying away from cricket for so long.

“Believe me it’s not easy,” said Akram. “Even at the height of my career I used to find it really tough to regain my rhythm after spending a few weeks away from action because of some injury.

“Amir was out of international cricket for five years so you can well imagine how tough it must be for him to be making a comeback at this level.

“Give him some time. He will improve and will bowl better with every game,” said Wasim, who is widely regarded as the greatest left-arm fast bowler of all time.

So what will be the one advice Wasim would give to Amir?

“Keep playing more and more matches, that’s what I’ll ask Amir to do. The more he plays, the better he will get,” added Akram, who took 414 Test and 502 One-day International wickets during an illustrious career.

Amir returned to Test cricket for the first time in almost six years when he spearheaded Pakistan’s pace attack in the opening Test of the four-match series at Lord’s last month.

Amir bowled impressively in the series but picked up only 12 wickets in the four Tests, which by his own standard was a below-par showing.

But Wasim said that it doesn’t matter much.

“The good thing is that Amir is bowling well. What he needs is to get fitter and stronger. It would be good if he also gains some more muscle because he looks a bit too lean.

“One of the reasons why he is not being able to take many wickets is because he is not getting the ball to swing. Once he starts moving the ball then the wickets will come.”

Wasim said that Amir’s best will come soon. “He is going to peak and then probably we will be able to see the best of him again.”