Sarfraz Ahmed: “We’d like to give Amir a full opportunity to stake his claim in the side”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed has vowed to give left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir “a full opportunity to stake his claim” in the World Cup squad.

Amir was left out of Pakistan’s World Cup side when it was announced last month.

Amir’s form in ODIs has been dismal since the conclusion of the Champions Trophy in June 2017 as he has taken five wickets in 14 matches at an average of 92.60.

However, he does have a chance to claim a spot in the World Cup team as Pakistan are allowed to make changes to their side without permission from the International Cricket Council (ICC) until May 23.

With that in mind, Amir will no doubt be looking to shine during the five-match ODI series against England, which starts on Wednesday at The Oval.

“As far as fast bowling goes, we will be flexible in this series, we will try and give Amir a full opportunity,” Sarfraz was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “The good thing is we have this opportunity to try out what we need to try out before the World Cup. We have till May 2 so we’d like to give Amir a full opportunity to stake his claim in the side.”

After the series, Pakistan will play two World Cup warm-up games against Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Bristol and Cardiff on May 24 and 26 respectively.

They will then kick off their World Cup campaign against the West Indies in Nottingham on May 31.

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