Mohammad Amir

A left-arm fast bowler, Mohammad Amir was born in 1992 in the remote village of Changa Bangial, Gujjar Khan. He was the second youngest of seven children and was born in a Gujjar family. Young Amir started playing street cricket, often trying to imitate the most famous cricketers. In 2003, at the age of 11, Amir was spotted at a local tournament and was invited to join the sports academy in Rawalpindi.

He was first selected as a fast bowler by the former fast bowler Wasim Akram at a fast bowling camp in 2007. Amir, then 15 years old, went on a tour of England with the Pakistan U-19 cricket team and was one of the leading bowlers. Amir took 8 wickets at an average of 16.37. In 2008 he took 4 wickets in successive matches against Sri Lanka and England. In this tri-nation tournament played in Sri Lanka he again excelled with his speed and swing bowling taking 9 wickets at average of 11.22 in three matches.

Due to injury he played only a limited part in the 2008 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup held in Malaysia. In March 2008, he made his domestic debut for the Rawalpindi Rams whilst concurrently representing the National Bank of Pakistan. His debut domestic season resulted in him taking 55 first-class wickets for NBP. He took a lot of top order wickets including those of players in the national side. This strong domestic form resulted in him making his international breakthrough in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup.

He made first One-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 made his international debut against England in the group stages of the 2009 ICC World Twenty20.

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.

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 batsmen Ricky 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.

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. On 13 March 2015, Amir made his domestic comeback playing for Omar Associates in the grade II patron's trophy. He took a wicket in his first comeback over.

On 19 August 2015, Mohammad Amir was declared completely free to play all forms of cricket from September 02, 2015. On 15 January 2016, he made his return to international cricket in a T20I match against New Zealand. In February 2016, Amir took a hat-trick in a Pakistan Super League match for Karachi Kings.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis termed Mohammad Amir’s performance against India in Asia Cup 2016 tie as outstanding. Amir is definitely a world class and is getting better and stronger with every match. Even Virat Kohli acknowledged that he is world class. He is an inspiration for young fast bowlers. The length at which he bowls and swing the ball at that pace is simply outstanding.