Amir taking things step by step for Pakistan return

Muhammad Amir, who had been forced to sit out of matches as he suffered from a hairline fracture in his right toe during the Ramzan Twenty20 tournament in Karachi, is focused and positive as he is all set to make a comeback.

Th player returns to cricket in the national Twenty20 tournament starting September 1 and the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy (QEA), Pakistan’s premier first-class tournament, starting September 17.

“I have started my training again after the injury which had put me on rest for almost a month,” Aamir said in an exclusive interview with cricket.com.au.

“I have been training from the last couple of weeks and have started to bowl again. I am feeling much better now.”

Amir will be representing Rawalpindi in the T20 tournament and in the preliminary matches of the QEA, the pacer will be playing from his department, Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

The youngster, who had been banned for five-years due to spot-fixing charges, will play his first first-class match since the Lord’s Test in 2010 in mid-October when the main round of the QEA Trophy commences. The initial stages of the QEA Trophy do not have the first-class status despite having four-day matches.

Should his department SSGC not qualify for the main round of QEA Trophy; the player will be eligible to participate in the tournament from his region, Rawalpindi.

“The coming season is pretty long,” he said. “Even in the qualifying stage we will be playing five four-day matches.

“Only once the preliminary stage is over I will be able to tell at what position I am standing.

“I’ll be playing four-day cricket after a long time which is a good thing for me because four-day cricket improves your rhythm day-by-day. The longer you bowl, the better you feel.”

There is an air of anticipation surrounding Amir’s comeback, however, the player stated that he does not feel pressurized by the expectations attached to his bowling by SSGC.

“I don’t think there will be any pressure on me to make my team qualify for the main event. Even if there is pressure I will learn something from it,” he said.

“We have some good youngsters in our team. Shoaib Malik is also with us. We are hopeful that we will do well.”

Pakistan is scheduled to tour Zimbabwe at the end of September for two T20 and three One-Day International matches. After Zimbabwe Pakistan will play a three Test, four ODI and three T20 series against England in the UAE starting October 13.

Although the chances of Amir’s participation in these tours appears slim, cricket.com.au reports that the Pakistan Cricket Board might select him for Pakistan A which will play a pair of two-day games against England in Sharjah before the Test series as well as a 50-over practice match in Abu Dhabi before the ODI series.

Another tournament currently in the works is between Pakistan A and England A (aka England Lions) scheduled to take place in the UAE in December which might provide the left-arm fast-bowler another opportunity to return to the domestic squad.

However despite all the possibilities afloat, Amir insists that currently the domestic T20 tournament, which begins next Tuesday in Rawalpindi, remains his sole focus.

“I always go step by step,” he added. “I have not set any big goals. I focus only on present. My current task is to do well in the coming Twenty20 championship and then in the qualifying round for the QEA Trophy.”

There have been mixed sentiments amongst the domestic cricketing fraternity regarding the possible return of the tainted players Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Amir. Paksitan’s chief selector Haroon Rasheed is of the opinion that the 23-year-old will have to prove his form and fitness in first-class cirkcet in order to be considered for international matches.

According to Rasheed, T20 tournaments do not provide the proper measure of form, fitness and stamina of any player.

“At this moment it is very premature to talk about Aamir. A five-year gap is not a small period. A player needs to play a full season or half to make an international comeback. There hasn’t been any pressure on his body yet,” Rasheed told cricket.com.au.

“He has been training very hard and had a good T20 tournament in Faisalabad but T20 cricket is not as competitive as first-class cricket, therefore it is too early to talk about his comeback.

“The moment he starts playing first-class cricket rigorously, only then we will be able to make a judgment on his form and fitness. It also depends on how determined he is and whether he will be able to regain his fitness.”