Illness further diminishes Amir’s World Cup chances

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir is most likely to miss the World Cup because of an illness that may take several weeks to go away.

Amir missed the second ODI against England in Southampton on Saturday because of what team officials said was a viral infection. He is set to miss the third game in Bristol on Tuesday (today) as well.

Sources said he is suffering from chickenpox. Amir is understood to be in London with his family and not with the team currently. How long it will take him to recover is not clear at the moment. But even if it is a week from when he originally fell ill, it leaves him with a monumental task to break into Pakistan’s 15-man squad for the mega event.

The last two ODIs against England are to be played on on Friday and Sunday. Amir was not part of Pakistan’s original World Cup squad but because teams have till May 23 to make changes, it was thought his initial exclusion was not final. He was brought along as part of the squad to face England and the series was seen as an opportunity for him to press for World Cup selection.

He was in the XI for the first ODI at The Oval last week but the match was abandoned after 19 overs in which Pakistan batted first. He fell ill on Friday, ahead of the second ODI on Saturday.

If he doesn’t make it, it will be the third World Cup he will miss since making his international debut in 2009. He missed out in 2011 and 2015 because he was serving a five-year ban for his role in the Lord’s spot-fixing scandal of 2010.

Amir’s wicket-taking form in ODIs since the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017 has been poor. He has only five wickets to show in that time in 15 ODIs (including the washed out game at The Oval). He hasn’t leaked runs, however, and his economy rate of 4.58 in that period could have got him selected, particularly after Pakistan’s bowling troubles in Southampton, where they conceded 373. Junaid Khan and Mohammad Hasnain are likely to play the third ODI on Tuesday (today).