Mohammad Amir celebrates after taking Chris Gayle’s wicket (Source: Reuters)Excluded from Pakistan’s preliminary World Cup squad, there was little hope for Mohammad Amir to be on the flight to England for World Cup 2019. But, the stars aligned for his return as Pakistan bowlers took a heavy beating from the English batsmen in the recent ODI series which paved the way for Amir’s surprise return to the side despite being out-of-form of late.
Pakistan team management pinned their hopes on the 27-year-old’s experience and record in English conditions. The left-arm pacer was economical in the warm-up game against Afghanistan. But, he showed his true potential in Pakistan’s first match against West Indies on Friday.
He turned out to be the only positive for Pakistan as he got rid of West Indies top-order singlehandedly in overcast conditions of Trent Bridge, Nottingham. Pakistan, however, lost the low-scoring match by seven wickets, owing to the disastrous show by their batsmen. Pakistan were bundled out by West Indies for just 105, their second-lowest total in World Cup
Amir stuck to his line and generated extra bounce from the pitch to dismiss Shai Hope and Darren Bravo. While Chris Gayle was hitting Pakistan bowlers all over the park, Amir did not concede a single boundary against the West Indies opener. Gayle scored just 4 runs off Amir’s 10 deliveries he faced and eventually got out trying to hit him for a six.
While West Indies may be closing in on victory, Mohammad Amir has been very impressive, picking up his side’s three wickets so far. #WIvPAK LIVE https://t.co/dZMkLSM6LX pic.twitter.com/rUaNHZiHpw
— ICC (@ICC) 31 May 2019
Amir, once again proved that he saves his best performances for the big stage. There were clouds over his fitness before the match but he ended up producing his best bowling performances in ODIs since ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final.
