Mickey Arthur: “He’s a match-winner”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, has labelled left-arm pace bowler Mohammad Amir a “match-winner” since he has a habit of taking wickets regularly.
Amir was once classified as a prodigy and seemed to be living up to all the hype until his career came to a screeching halt when he was banned for five years for his involvement in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal.
He ended up returning to the Pakistan team after serving his ban and delivered a standout performance in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against India.
Arthur, who was Pakistan’s head coach at that time, said he knows just how lethal the 31-year-old can be when he is firing on all cylinders.
“He’s a match-winner,” the 55-year-old said on Amir’s YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Amir recently played in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), where he picked up 16 wickets in 10 matches for the Jamaica Tallawahs at an average of 13.75 and an economy rate of 6.87.
As for the Pakistan team, they are currently playing in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and started with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka.
Things went downhill from here as they suffered four straight losses to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
However, the men in green bounced back with successive wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand to keep themselves in the hunt for a semi-final spot.
Their next game will be against England on November 11 in Kolkata.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali