By Syed Intikhab Ali
Eyes of all cricket lovers across the world will be on Muhammad Amir who resumes his Test career from today at Lord’s, the same place where his career came to a halt six years ago owing to his involvement in spot fixing.
Amir has shown patience to aggressive critics who did not want him back. He chose not to respond to them verbally. He instead chose to answer them with his magical bowling, first in first class matches, then one-day and T20 matches and now Tests.
The English team and the media there is panicky because it is clear that Amir will be devastating along with Yasir Shah and other fast bowlers.
First England’s captain Alastair Cook, then the British media and then Graeme Swann and Kevin Pietersen threw venom against Amir in order to put him under pressure and divert his attention from his bowling.
The cricket lovers haven’t seen such things before. A young energetic fast bowler whose bright career was halted when he was just 18, when his talent had just been recognized, fell victim to a deep-rooted conspiracy and had to suffer for others’ wrongdoings.
It is surprising nobody is talking in England about his courage and talent. Nobody is talking about how he has come back despite facing all the demoralizing tactics used against him.
Cook has been dismissed by Amir on many occasions. So he knows well how much he is in danger.
It is surprising that PCB did not make any strategy to answer these attacks which are increasing day by day. It was okay not to respond to the statements of Tom, Dick and Harry but it does not mean that you should surrender. Where is four media managers policy?
The British media stooped so low as to call him spot-fixer when he performed well against Somerset.
England’s Ravi Bopara deserves the credit for coming to the rescue of a fellow player. He criticized the way a leading British news organization spoke of Amir.
Former England captain Mike Atherton also did a good job when he conducted a program about the prospects of Pak-England series.
But there is no one to present Pakistan’s point of view. Manager Intikhab Alam failed to do his job in this matter.
These days Agha Akbar is in England with the team as media manager. He is experienced but he too has done nothing in this respect.
The PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan is also in the England and has said that he would give guidance to media managers. Let’s see when and where the PCB chairman feels the need to guide the media managers whose work has not been seen so far.
Today is a historic day in the life of Muhammad Amir. He has undergone punishment and lost six precious years. People should now talk about his bowling ability and not what happened six years ago.
Pakistan’s team manager, coach, captain and media manager should remain pro-active. There is no room for silence now. They must speak up if there is any conspiracy against any player.