Amir wants his name on Lord's honour board, again

The left-armer fast-bowler eager to make amends after spending five years in wilderness

KARACHI: Lord's remains cricket's home but the historic ground seldom carries as much importance as it will on July 14 when Pakistan take on England in the first Test. The match will see the return of Mohammad Amir — once the prince of cricket whose career came to a grinding halt at the very ground.

For the public, the years have flown by but for Amir it has been a long and arduous journey — forced to stay away from the game he loves — and the left-armer cannot wait to make amends.

“I've got an opportunity which I feel no one has got in their career as I can resume my Test career at Lord's where my progression was curtailed due to an unfortunate incident,” Amir told The Express Tribune. “I'm lucky that I'll resume my Test career in the same country and against the same team and at the same venue.”



The 24-year-old is understandably eager to focus on the cricket. “For me, it's like going back to 2010 and alter my mistake because a lot has been lost in that period,” he said, adding, “Even the last time around, I was the best bowler in the series but all that became meaningless. However, I want to emerge as the best bowler on this tour and help my team do well in a tough series.”

For Amir, England means everything in his career because all the major points of his life have been experienced in that land — may it be his international cricket debut in 2009 when he played his first T20I against England, or the highs of winning the World T20 there and the low of losing it all.

“England has been an important place in my career because all the significant experiences of my life have come there,” he said. “I feel that going back there will be like completing the circle of life — a clock which had stopped for some time is ticking again. I have both fond and bad memories of the land.”

Since returning, the left-arm pacer has played in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Pakistan's away series in New Zealand last year, the Pakistan Super League (PSL), the Asia Cup and the World T20 but dubs the England series as the high point since his return.



“So far all the matches that I've played in international cricket have been about my cricket comeback, but the tour of England is bigger than that — it is about the coming back of my personality and image.”

And Amir is confident he can earn back the respect and adulation he commanded all those years ago as cricket’s definitive teenage darling. “I have the perfect opportunity to eradicate a dark chapter of my life on the back of outstanding performances,” he said. “I can earn back the respect and praise of everyone in England and the world through my performances and I want to make it a memorable experience. This is where Amir will be reborn.”

The Gujar Khan-born wants to write his name in Lord’s history, again. “The focus is currently on the opening Test in Lord's, where I've got my name on the honour board because of a five-wicket haul and I want my name written there again,” he said.

PHOTO COURTESY: LORD'S

Amir admits though that nerves may play a part. “I don’t know how the public will react to my comeback in England but I'm ready for any type of reaction,” he said. “There will be early nerves I admit but I hope when I'll walk onto the ground, it will be all ok. Day-by-day things will improve for me on this tour.”

He thanked the ICC, the PCB and likes of Michael Atherton, Michael Holding, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Wasim Akram, Najam Sethi and Shaharyar Khan for backing him to stage a comeback.



Amir hoped that going to England early will allow the team to acclimatise quickly, and revealed that his target will be to take out star player Joe Root, skipper Alastair Cook and the in-form Johnny Bairstow.

“I'm targeting Root because he is currently the backbone of the England team and one of the best batsmen currently in cricket world and also of Bairstow and Cook because they are in good form,” he said. “I know there is a big responsibility on me to deliver wickets since England has a long batting line-up.”

Lord’s will see the return of Amir, just as it saw his demise in a match where he took 6-84. A lot has changed in these five years, but the 20 million watching back at home will be hoping their star bowler’s penchant for magic would have not.

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