World cricket articles

January 15, 2019

He has played only four Tests out of the ten Pakistan have played in the UAE since his return, and perhaps there's a good reason for it. One glance at Mohammad Amir's record there suggests this isn't the kind of bowler Pakistan need on pitches in that part of the world - their home, mind you. In those four Tests, against West Indies and Sri Lanka, Amir averages 56.42 for his seven wickets. Amir may have played in fewer than 13% of the Tests Pakistan have contested in the UAE since making it their home, but he has played in 37.5% of their defeats; Pakistan lost three of the four Tests in which the left-arm quick lined up for them.
You may have begun whispering it at some point, or finally reached the end of your tether and let it out, as captain Sarfraz Ahmed did after the Cape Town loss, publicly lamenting the lack of pace from Amir. But for anyone who saw him perform in South Africa, that much was evident. On day one in Cape Town, according to Cricviz, 61% of his deliveries were around the 120-132 kph mark. He has never bowled slower than that, and regular glances at the speed gun throughout the series would have told you he very rarely threatened so much as the vicinity of 140kph. On the moribund, unresponsive pitches of the UAE, that sort of pace, especially when the ball isn't doing anything, will get you nowhere.
It was probably the reason Pakistan chose to look elsewhere across the entire home season, with Amir sent off to play the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy instead of Tests against Australia and New Zealand. But once the tour of South Africa approached, there was an air of inevitability to Amir's call-up. In those conditions, it was reasoned, he still had the venom to be a menace, giving them options he could not provide back home.
His lack of pace might have dominated the headlines, but there is little doubt Amir was still Pakistan's best bowler across the series. He was the leading wicket-taker for them with 12 across the three Tests, and had an economy rate of 2.67; no other Pakistan bowler could manage to restrain the South Africans below 3.1 per over. His average of 23.58 per wicket was bettered only by Faheem Ashraf's, who only played the one Test. He might not have seriously rivaled Dale Steyn or Kagiso Rabada for pace, Vernon Philander for swing, or Duanne Olivier for bounce, but as far as his own team-mates went, Amir still shone as the brightest star from the lot.
That leaves the question of how Pakistan intend to use him. He could be seen as a vital option for when conditions are thought to be conducive for bowlers of his ilk, while the more workmanlike tasks fall to others in the team. It could mean Amir becomes an away-conditions bowler - in other words, a player Pakistan turn to when tours of South Africa, England, New Zealand or Australia (SENA) come up, while he sits out games in the UAE and potentially elsewhere in Asia.
In any case, SENA is where Amir has played nearly 70% of his Tests, though his record there is identical - and not especially superior to his record outside. But on the evidence of this series - and the last year, in which Amir played all his Tests outside the UAE, Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur believes it could be a possibility.