Former Pakistan Captain Salman Butt has expressed that the speedster Mohammad Amir will be in top form on his return to Test cricket, just like boxer Muhammad Ali was after his suspension from boxing.
According to Deccan Chronicle, "He has bowled well in limited over matches and can deliver," he told to foreign media, adding that he did not see any areas where Amir could improve."Long lay-offs can hurt in many ways, but it depends on individuals and if they show the same hunger and determination — like Ali did in his forced lay-off — then one can succeed."
Amir has made a successful comeback to the Pakistan national side in the shorter formats of the game since serving out the 5-year suspension imposed on him by the ICC for willfully bowling no-balls during Pakistan’s tour to England in 2010.
He will play his first five-day match at the same venue where he, Butt and Mohammad Asif were caught in a sting operation in 2010. The trio had arranged deliberate no-balls in return for money during the Lord's Test against England on Pakistan's tour, resulting in a five-year cricketing ban and jail terms in the UK, but Amir's ban ended in September last year, and he has since returned to the top of Pakistani cricket.
According to local media report, Butt said, “There are no doubts that he can be Pakistan's key bowler against England across formats, just like on the tour of 2010.”
Mohammad Amir will though have the biggest test of his comeback as he prepares for a return to the longest format of the game at the very same venue where his promising career came to a halt five years ago.
With less than two weeks to go before Pakistan take on England in the first of four Test matches which begin at Lord’s on July 14.
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