I will make a strong comeback: Amir

Mohammad Amir vows to recover, confirms he will exercise his right to appeal verdict of five-year ban.

LONDON: Pakistan’s banned fast-bowler Mohammad Amir has promised to come back from the “worst day of my life” after confirming he will exercise his right to appeal the verdict of a five-year ban from cricket for his part in the spot-fixing scandal.

An International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal also handed out longer bans to former captain Salman Butt and fast-bowler Mohammad Asif for the roles they played in bowling deliberate no-balls during last year’s Test against England at Lord’s.

Prior to the scandal, Amir was regarded as one of the hottest property in the cricket world. And the thought that at the age of 18 his career might be over was almost too much for Amir to comprehend.

‘Worst day of my life’

“What can I say about my feelings?” Amir told the BBC. “When one sees, in front of him, the end of his future, his career, then that is the worst day of one’s life. Cricket is the most important thing in my life because I left my studies for cricket; I was so passionate about it. “My family depends on me and I depend upon cricket so the entire thing will be upset by this decision. We [Amir and his lawyer] have the option to appeal which we will exercise.”

‘I will never lose hope’

However, the teenager vowed to recover from the controversy.

“About the future, I will never lose hope. I have never done that in my life. I’ll always take it as something which will propel me to do better and I’ll do everything in my power to make a strong comeback. I have firm faith that God must have some lessons for me to learn from all of this.

“I’ll try to work hard, make a comeback, and learn good things out of these bad days,” he added.

Meanwhile, Salman, too, has indicated he wishes to appeal but Asif is still considering his options, according to a statement issued by his London-based lawyer, Addleshaw Goddard.

“Asif has co-operated fully with the ICC’s investigation and is very disappointed and upset by the decision it reached,” the statement said. “Together with his legal representatives, he is now considering his response and will not be commenting further due to the ongoing criminal proceedings.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2011.