I found cricket changed drastically after returning back- Amir
Photo - ICC
|| CF Correspondent ||
Pakistani pace bowler Mohammad Amir revealed that he emphasized to develop his variations when he returned back to international cricket after serving a five-year ban imposed by ICC for spot-fixing as cricket changed drastically during this time frame.
Amir on July 26 announced his decision to retire from Test cricket, citing his desire to concentrate on white-ball cricket. Amir has played 36 Tests since making his debut as a 17-year-old in 2009, taking 119wickets at 30.47.
However, he missed a large chunk of the last decade after being banned for five years for his part in the Lord’s fixing scandal of 2011. He returned in2016 to continue his career and during the timeframe played a major role in helping the side win the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy.
‘’When I started in 2009 cricket was different. The game was slow compared to now and the conditions used to suit the bowlers. But now it is mostly batting-friendly
‘’Cricket is tough for a bowler now. I think as a bowler (one) has to learn new things to survive. Variations with the white balls are important. You cannot depend on only one of your stock deliveries. Cricket, especially in one-day now, has two balls being used in a game. The balls do not get old and make things easy for the batsmen. The ball doesn’t reverse, the slow ball doesn’t grip. So you need to have variation if you are a bowler, cricket is tough with the white ball now,’’ Amir was quoted in different English dailies on Friday.
‘’I began to concentrate on developing my variations was when I made my comeback, in 2016because by that time the franchise T20 leagues had become popular. The games are high-scoring now. So I had thought on my return that I have to learn new things. It can be a slower, a wide yorker or a slow bouncer,’’ he said.
‘’If you are predictable as a bowler in current cricket, then you are giving away 10 to 12runs in an over. You will only be safe if you have variation. Like Wasim bhai[Wasim Akram] says, he is still learning cricket. You need to learn new skills regularly if you want to sustain for long in cricket,’’ he concluded.
