Mohammad Amir (Urdu: محمد عامر, born 13 April 1992) is a Pakistani international cricketer. He is a left-arm fast bowler, who opened the bowling in all formats of the game. He made his first-class debut in 2007, and his firstOne-Day International and Test appearance in 2009 in Sri Lanka, at the age of 17. He played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, where he played in every game, helping the national side win the tournament. Amir was touted as having the potential to be a leading fast bowler by formerPakistani left arm fast bowler Wasim Akram who picked him out as a prospect in 2007. Since Amir's establishment in the international arena, former Pakistani batsman Rameez Raja, as well as Akram himself, have stated that "He is much cleverer than [Akram] at 18".
On 29 August 2010, he was implicated in allegations of spot-fixing and was given a five-year ban for allegedly bowling two-deliberate no-balls, Amir pleaded guilty on the verdict handed out by his prosecutor the International Cricket Council, and publicly asked for forgiveness. In November 2011, Amir was convicted, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, of conspiracy charges relating to spot-fixing. He was given a five year ban which was considered lenient, due to his juvenile age and confession, as compared to the other two conspirators who were given 7 and 10 years' suspensions, effectively ending their careers.
On 29 January 2015, it was announced that Amir would be allowed an early return to domestic cricket despite his original ban being due to expire on 2 September 2015. Mohammad Amir signed with Chittagong Vikings to play the BPLT20-2015. He has since returned to play for Pakistan on their tour of New Zealand in 2016
Early life
Mohammad Amir was born in 1992 in the remote village of Changa Bangial, Gujar Khan, Punjab. He was the second youngest of seven children and was born in a Kotla tribe of Gujjar family. From a young age, he playedstreet cricket, often trying to emulate his hero, Wasim Akram. He was quoted as saying, "Wasim Akram is my favourite, he's my idol. When I used to watch him on TV, I would try to see what exactly he was doing with the ball. Then I would go outside and imitate his actions and bowling."
In 2003, at the age of 11, Amir was spotted at a local tournament and invited to join the sports academy set up by the Bajwa in Rawalpindi.
After joining the national team, Amir moved to Lahore with his family to be closer to top-flight cricket facilities. Amir married British citizen Narjis Khan in Sep 2016.
Domestic career
Amir made his international debut against England in the group stages of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20. He took the wicket of Ravi Bopara with only his second ball, with Shoaib Malik taking a fine catch, and conceded only one run in his debut international over.
Amir continued to impress as the tournament continued, taking a wicket in his opening spell in 6 of the 7 games he played, including the final. He was particularly effective at using the short ball, with his skiddy bouncers rushing onto the batsmen, often causing them to mishit the ball for a catch. Amir consistently clocked speeds of above 145 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) and bowled his quickest delivery in the 2009 ICC World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka, at 152 kilometres per hour (94.4 miles per hour). His most important moment arguably came in the opening over of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka. He bowled with speed and with consecutive short deliveries to the tournament's top scorer Tillakaratne Dilshan obtained his wicket on the fifth delivery and managed to end the over with a wicket maiden.
Amir made his One Day International match debut against Sri Lanka taking 3 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50 and also scoring 23 runs. -On 9 November 2009 he scored 73 runs against New Zealand which is a record for a number 10 batsman. With his batting partner Saeed Ajmal, Amir added 103 runs to Pakistan's chase, only to fall short by 7 runs.
He impressed the Pakistan cricket team, including Wasim Akram, who took credit for discovering Amir, although Akram later commented that Amir needed to gain more weight to aid his development.
Later in 2009, Pakistan toured Sri Lanka and in the first One Day International match, he shared a 62 run partnership with fast bowler Umar Gul for the tenth wicket but Pakistan lost by 36 runs. He also played a game against New Zealand in 2009–2010. During a match in the third One Day International match, when Pakistan were reduced to 8 wickets for 86 runs, he scored 73 runs not out, making the highest score by a number 10 batsman in One Day International cricket and putting on a 103 runs, 10th wicket partnership with Saeed Ajmal. He was unable to get his side to their victory target of 212 runs, as Ajmal was declare out in the last over and Pakistan lost by just 7 runs.
On August 30, 2016, against England at Nottingham Amir scored 58 after coming at no.11 and became the first cricketer to score a half century in ODIs after coming last in the batting order. He was dropped for the next match against England two days later.
After his successful 2009 T20 World Cup tournament, Amir was selected in the test squad for Pakistan for the series in Sri Lanka. He was chosen alongside fast bowler Umar Gul and Abdur Rauf, ahead of more notable and experienced names such as Sohail Tanvir. He started his Test career well, taking six wickets in the match, which included the wicket of Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara in both innings, as well as the Sri Lankan batsman, Mahela Jayawardene's wicket in the 2nd innings. However he did not get any wickets in his next two Test matches. His next test wickets came in New Zealand where he managed to take four wickets in the first Test match, during a losing game. He won his first Test match with the Pakistan team during his 5th Test match, as Pakistan won comprehensively by 141 runs, he managed to take three wickets in the match including the wicket of Ross Taylor, who scored 97 runs in the second innings. He shone brightly with the bat as well and showed a solid technique for a lower order batsman.
During the Test match series against Australia in 2010, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he took his first five wicket haul, taking the wickets of Australian batsmenRicky Ponting, Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke. On 24 July 2010 he was influential in helping Pakistan win the 2nd Test match against Australia; the first Test match Pakistan had won against them in 15 years, which also drew the series 1–1. During this match he took 7 wickets overall, and was declared man of the match. Overall, in the second series, he was the leading wicket taker of both teams with his 11 scalps.
In the summer of 2010, Amir was awarded the man of the match award for becoming the youngest player to ever take a five-wicket haul in England. He also became the youngest player to take 50 test wickets earning praise from several former international cricketers. In that eventful series against England, he took 19 wickets, the highest of the Pakistanis and third highest overall at an outstanding average of 18.3. He also took 2 five-wicket hauls.
In August 2010, the English newspaper News of the World published allegations that Amir and fellow bowler Mohammad Asif deliberately bowled no-balls duringPakistan's 2010 tour of England in return for payment from a betting syndicate.
The News of the World alleged that an agent affiliated with some of the Pakistani players, later identified as Mazhar Majeed, had accepted a £150,000 (US$232,665) bribe from undercover reporter Mazher Mahmood for information that Amir and Asif would deliberately deliver no balls at specific points during the match, information which could be used by gamblers to make wagers with inside information (a process known as spot-fixing, compared with match fixing to predetermine a match result).
In the video posted by News of the World, Majeed, counting out the bribe money, promised that Amir would be Pakistan's bowler for the first over, and that the third ball of the over would be a no-ball delivery. Amir did bowl the first over, and on his third delivery from the over, bowled a no-ball delivery. Commentary described the delivery as a "massive overstep", a good half-metre beyond the popping crease. Majeed also predicted that the sixth delivery of the tenth over would be a no-ball, and the ball, delivered by Asif, was also a no-ball delivery.
As a result of the allegations and video posted by News of the World, Scotland Yard announced during the evening that they had arrested Majeed on charges of suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers.
The allegations also affected the Mohammad Amir brand as the official Pakistani kit supplier BoomBoom Cricket announced that they had temporarily suspended their ties with Amir until further details on the allegations had emerged. BoomBoom stated that they will "make a complete decision once his [Amir] fate had been decided by the authorities"
The Pakistani selector Yawar Saeed announced that Amir and the two other accused Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif had withdrawn from the Pakistani tour of England due to the mental torture suffered by the allegations. Amir also continued to protest his innocence in the allegations.
