Reduced sentence? Amir might get an early reprieve from his ban to resume playing domestic cricket. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is confident that it would succeed in securing an early reprieve for banned cricketer Muhammad Amir as they plan to lobby for the pacer in the upcoming meetings of the International Cricket Council (ICC), to be held in Dubai on January 27 and 28.
Amir’s ban originally ends in September, but the board is keen to get a clean chit for him so that he can appear in domestic cricket.
The lobby had been restarted by former PCB chairman Najam Sethi, who is all set to become the next ICC president as well.
“We’re hopeful that our lobbying will work out and that Amir will be able to get early clearance to play domestic cricket,” a senior PCB official told The Express Tribune.
“The kid has cooperated a lot throughout the rehabilitation phase with us and with the ICC as well, so there is no reason to keep him out of the grounds. He has served the punishment for what he did and thus should be given a chance to redeem himself.”
Before the ban, Amir had represented Pakistan in 14 Tests, 15 ODIs and 18 T20Is and picked up 51, 25 and 23 wickets respectively across the three formats.
It should be mentioned here that Amir was called up secretly by the ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) for an interview in Dubai so that a final observation can be made before deciding the fate of the youngster.
Amir was an employee of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), who later scrapped his contract after being found guilty in a spot-fixing scandal along with Salman Butt and Muhammad Asif.
Both Butt and Asif were also employees of NBP and have been pleading with the PCB to fight their case as well.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 25th, 2015.
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@Salma: He deserves a second chance but not in professional cricket. He should find another job or do some business. It will be a huge mistake to reinstate this ex con or other spot fixers into Pakistan Cricket Team. First of all, other countries won't allow him to enter in their respective countries, if they did, spectators will not let him play there. Some officials in PCB are creating un-necessary controversy.
Why are Butt and Asif now pleading to the PCB? They have been denying wrong doing from the very start and only admitted guilt when all other options were exhausted. I think Amir has shown more maturity than Butt and Asif. He admitted his mistake from the very beginning and did not make lame excuses. He said he was wrong and has faced the punishment like a man; compared to Asif and Butt who acted like immature little kids who would try to lie as much as possible to find a way out. No sympathies at all with Butt and Asif. And the PCB should, for once, take the correct step in not pleading for Butt and Asifs' cases.
Good work by PCB. He has served his term. Even hard criminals are free to live as normal citizens after they have served their term and shown remorse. He deserves a second chance.