Wasim Akram: Give Mohammad Amir a second chance

Former Pakistan captain and a legend of the sport Wasim Akram has opined that Amir should be given a second chance as every person deserves one.

Tainted Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir’s potential return to international cricket has left the cricket fraternity a divided house. While few current and former players have expressed their opinion that the pacer should not be allowed to make a comeback, there are few who have sympathised with him and backed the idea of his return.

Former Pakistan captain and a legend of the sport Wasim Akram has opined that Amir should be given a second chance as every person deserves one. Akram was reacting to Amir’s sensational Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) debut for Chittagong Vikings, where his spell of 4-1-30-4 almost won the match for his team. All four wickets Amir scalped were of international players — including that of Pakistan’s Test skipper Misbah-ul-Haq.

Akram shared his opinion during a live chat session on social networking site Twitter. “Amir’s performance today was excellent and I’m all for him to represent Pakistan, everybody deserves a second chance,” was Akram’s reply to a follower’s question. Many current players like Mohammad Hafeez, Kevin Pietersen and former players like Rameez Raja have opposed Amir’s return to international cricket.

Amir was found guilty of being involved in spot-fixing along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif during Pakistan’s tour to England in 2010 and was given a five-year ban from international cricket and six-month prison. However, many former players like Michael Holding, Michael Atherton and Geoffrey Boycott showed sympathy for him and pleaded with ICC for leniency towards him.  Geoffrey Boycott: “Nobody should hold anything against Mohammad Amir”