Mohammad Amir, the teenage fast-bowler caught up in the betting scam which last year embroiled Pakistan cricket in one of its worst scandals, has returned to the country. The Pakistan Cricket Board will be talking to him about the details of all that happened. But now that Amir is out of the juvenile detention centre in England where he was held, it is time for the youngster — who ranks amongst the most talented left-arm bowlers in the world — to put the past behind and get on with his disrupted career.
There is a lot that the future holds in store for him, with many believing he will emerge in time as one of the world’s greats. We must hope he has learnt the lessons that came with court appearances, newspaper headlines, weeks in detention and the agony of his family. But now it is time for him to move on and discover his true potential as an immensely-talented cricketer who has a great deal to offer his country.
The story of Mohammad Amir teaches us a lot. It tells us how young cricketers can be lured and persuaded into making money through wrongdoing by others more powerful than themselves. It tells us just how temptation is thrown their way and the signs on the road that can lead to money — along with disgrace and humiliation. The PCB needs to take steps to correct this. Especially in a country where conscience and morality has slipped, a programme needs to be set up to inculcate these values among young cricketers — and this should begin well before they reach the national level. By the same token, we need to find a way to end the corruption that permeates our game at the domestic level, where the dishonesty and tampering that came so close to ruining Amir’s life begins. He must now take full advantage of the chance offered to him and never again allow it to slip away.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 1st, 2012.
COMMENTS (12)
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@Babu, we should not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity.
He should also consider to open a mobile repairing shop in Gujar Khan. Best wishes.
@Babu: AND wht about that Dr. Shakil Afridi who helped US force invade your KPK ??
We all are human and make mistakes, he has served his sentence and hopefully has learned his lessons the hard way around. He has already apologized to the nation so let him play and amend his wrong doings by serving the nation.
For those terming it Punjabi Puttar...Please think BIG
if Jang is to be believed (they reproted that he is marrying his lawyer) he has already achieved one success in life ;)
I am waiting for the day when he will ball again... A new beginning of his successful career and a first ball:)
Ethics is something taught at home not in some educational institute. A new subject at the Inter or BS/BA level will only provide students to earn 75 more marks.
he disgraced whole nation just for few dollars, weldon punjabi pottar
@A. Khan: Ethics is offered up to 10th class for all non-muslim students as a parallel course to Islamiyat.
Ethics should be mandatory as a subject up to Inter or BA/BSc. level. Hopefully, just hopefully, it will make a difference to the next generation of Pakistani public.
Nothing good can happen unless Amir shows remorse and apolizes to the nation for cheating, lying and deceiving the whole world. Only after the full apology and admission of his crimes can he be rehabed. He has probation period also where he has to remain absent from cricket. "You do the crime you do the time". Unless we are strict nothing would change. The players would only become more careful in the future.