Amir was a key contributor to Pakistan’s Champions Trophy win: Yasir Arafat

Experienced all-rounder Yasir Arafat has stated that Mohammad Amir’s performance in the recently concluded Champions Trophy was a key to Pakistan’s maiden title triumph. After losing the first group game to neighbours India, Pakistan gained momentum by winning the rest of the games to meet India again in the finals. This time they crushed rivals India in the finals on June 18 by 180 runs at The Oval.

Amir impressed in CT

Amir picked up 5 wickets in 4 games but his performance in the tournament transcends the numbers. He picked crucial wickets in the middle overs against Sri Lanka and then contributed with a dodged 28* in the chase to get Pakistan over the line in a do-or-die game. After missing five years in international cricket due to a ban imposed by PCB on him on spot fixing charges, Amir looked in red-hot form during the mega event bowling with pace and energy, something which impressed his former teammate, Yasir Arafat.

“Coming to the Champions Trophy, Mohammad Amir’s contribution to Pakistan’s victory was immense. He put in a valuable batting performance with Sarfaraz Ahmed in that crucial game against Sri Lanka and then when it came to the final, he delivered those hefty blows to the Indian batting line-up which contributed heavily to the Pakistan victory,” PakPassion.net quoted Arafat as saying.

Though Fakhar Zaman was the star of the win against India, it was Amir’s fierce spell that struck the telling blows against a strong Indian batting line-up. Chasing a huge target of 339, Amir bowled a memorable spell in which he removed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli early to dent India early in the chase. He then sent a dangerous looking Shikhar Dhawan back to the hut with a fast away going delivery to put India in deep trouble. Arafat spoke highly of that spell and said Amir is back to his best.

“To me, Amir is back to his best and has done a great job for his side during the Champions Trophy and I would like him to continue to be focused and perform in the same manner for the future as well,” he said.

Media pressure post international return

Making a comeback to the international fold is always tough after serving a 5-year ban. Amir attracted a lot of spotlight when he was picked to go to England, the very same country where the controversy unfolded in the summer of 2010. Arafat felt that despite the scrutiny, the left-handed bowler bowled splendidly but was unlucky to not get many wickets.

“There was a lot of pressure on Amir to perform after his comeback to international cricket. It started with the tour of England in 2016 where he was very unlucky to have catches dropped off him and seemed to continue through the tours of New Zealand and Australia. In fact, it got to the point during the recent tour of the West Indies that there were rumours that Amir would give up Test cricket to concentrate on the shorter formats of the game,” Arafat said.

The dark days are behind Amir now. After being sidelined from cricket for 5 years, Amir, still only 25, has enough time to become one of the finest talents to have emerged from Pakistan.