Following rumours that Pakistani team players did not want to play with the scandal tainted Mohammad Amir, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) decided to put him under a six-month assessment process before his comeback to the field.
Amir was banned along with former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and strike bowler Mohammad Asif for deliberately indulging in spot fixing in summer 2010.
PCB says the left-arm fast bowler will be monitored ‘very closely’ and that feedback of other players in the national team and domestic circuit would also be taken into account.
Speaking to Press Trust of India yesterday, PCB chief Shaharyar Khan said, “Obviously he has committed a crime and let the country down and we have to ensure other players are comfortable playing against him and with him before we take any decision.
“We also want to be completely satisfied that he will not repeat his mistakes again if he gets a chance to play for Pakistan. So until now it is not an open or shut case for Amir,” he added.
According to a report published on NDTV, Khan said that no member of the Pakistan team had raised any concerns with the board over allowing Amir to make a comeback.
“We have to be 100 per cent sure that he does not bring Pakistan cricket into disrepute again,” he said. Amir’s ban is scheduled to end in September this year.
However, the PCB chief was not sure about the future of Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, saying that “no progress had been made in their cases as until now they had not been cooperating as much as was expected of them”.
