SPORTS Wednesday, 23 September, 2015
akhtar eager TO GUIDE AMIR KARACHI
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AGENCIES
ORMER Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akthar on Tuesday said he was eager to take youngster Mohammad Amir under his wing and guide him back to the national team following his return to cricket after a five-year ban. Amir, 23, was suspended along with then-captain Salman Butt and pacer Mohammad Asif for bowling no-balls to order as part of a complex betting scam exposed by a tabloid sting during Pakistan's tour of England in 2010. The International Cricket Council (ICC) lifted all sanctions on the trio earlier this month, making them eligible for domestic and international matches. Akhtar, the fastest bowler in history, said he was looking to buy a team in the upcoming Pakistan Super League (PSL)
Twenty20 tournament that will be staged in Qatar in February, and wanted to recruit Amir. “I am planning to buy a team in the PSL and would like to have Amir in my team so that I can guide him and make him an effective bowler,” Akhtar, who retired in 2011, said. Now 40, Akhtar's career briefly overlapped with Amir, who made his debut in 2009 aged 17. The pair shared the attack in two oneday internationals in the 2010 Asia Cup and two Twenty20s against Australia in England the same year, before Amir's career crashed to a halt following the ban. “Everyone knows how talented Amir was when he played cricket so on his return he will have to work hard to become the same bowler,” said Akhtar. The Pakistan Cricket Board has devised a rehabilitation programme for all three players, with Amir already playing grade cricket since April this year under
a special dispensation by the ICC. He picked up seven wickets in his last match, a non first-class qualifier for the Sui Southern Gas Company, with a cunning mix of inswingers, outswingers, bouncers and varied angles from over and around the wicket. While some influential voices, including ex-captain-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja, have voiced their opposition to the spot-fixing trio ever being allowed to represent their country again, Akhtar said it was right for them to get a second chance. “I have seen them suffer in the last
five years so all three must be treated in the same manner,” said the former player, whose own career was dogged by controversy including a drug scandal, an infamous dressing room fight and frequent claims of insubordination. “Imagine Pakistan's attack with Amir, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Irfan, Shahid Afridi and Yasir Shah and if they play together we can win the next World Twenty20,” he added. OWNING PSL TEAM: Earlier, Akhtar met the PSL head Najam Sethi on Monday afternoon and later explained his in-
tentions to the media. "Everyone is excited about PSL and so am I," Akhtar said. "It's like a gift to the nation; it's not [just] the brand of PCB, it's the brand of Pakistan. I am interested in buying a team in the league and want to serve Pakistan cricket this way by promoting cricketers and making more Shoaib Akhtars who can bowl at 100 (mph). My business partner and I are testing the waters; assessing whatever is put on table and how it suits us." Akhtar has in the past been a vocal critic of the PCB on matters regarding selection and the structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan. His meeting with Sethi has been viewed as a bid to make amends, but Akhtar brushed aside notions that his visit had been to take a PCB job. "There are more ways to serve Pakistan cricket than taking a job at the PCB. You all know what kind of person I am. I might be critical at some point but my intentions are always positive and I want things to be right. By buying a team, I can offer the talented boys in my team a platform. [I can] make an academy and recruit the best possible talent in my team "I might be very critical of the board on many things but I only want Pakistan to win. There is a lot of talent in our country but they need guidance. The PSL is a good initiative and we should support it. This is the product that can help us revive cricket in Pakistan."
PREMATURE TO THINK ABOUT INTERNATIONAL CRICKET: AMIR COURTESY PAK PASSION
IndIan players should be InvIted for psl: MIandad ISLAMABAD AGENCIES
Former captain Javed Miandad called upon the board to invite Indian players to the inaugural Super League (PSL) and avoid retaliating to the Indian Premier League's (IPL) decision to ignore Pakistani players from its Twenty20 tournament. The PSL, a franchise-based T20 tournament on the same lines as the IPL, is scheduled to be staged early next year with Qatar or UAE the proposed venues. Miandad advised the PCB to make the best arrangement for the league as the country's 'prestige was at stake.' “Nothing should go off beam,” Miandad said in an interview. “PCB should categorize the players according to their standards,” he said, adding that all international players who desire to participate in the tournament should be asked to sign a contract first rather than confirming verbally or through any other medium. “It is a matter of our country's reputation and nothing should go wrong. Each interested player should first sign a contract as backing out at the last moment would bring a bad name,” the 58-year-old batting great said. The much-blighted PSL is finally ready for take off in February 2016 and this time its organisers say they are leaving nothing to chance. A Twenty20 league, following a model similar to the IPL and Big Bash, has been in the works since 2013 but the PCB has had to postpone it twice -- in 2014 and 2015 -- over what it said was lack of response from sponsors and logistics issues. But a team dedicated solely to the PSL project and headed by PCB Executive Committee chief, Najam Sethi, says there is now a strong commercial interest in the tournament and foreign players are lining up to sign up for it. Miandad said PCB should have invited business tycoons at the PSL logo unveiling ceremony as advertisement was the 'need of the hour for PSL'. “PCB should have also called in different bank presidents and multinationals who are interested in the event,” he said. “One of these people may have bought some teams of the PSL and this way the number of teams would have increased and the tournament would have acquired a bigger profile.” When asked about the fate of the Pakistan-India series, Miandad said he 'did not entertain too many expectations.' “As far as the series is concerned everyone knows who dumped who.” Miandad said he preferred to offer condolences to the family and friends of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president late Jagmohan Dalmiya rather than talk about the series between the two teams. “I want to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) president late Jagmohan Dalmiya. “He was a true gentleman and had respect for Pakistani cricketers,” he said adding a big void will be left in cricket after his death.”
Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has said that a return to international cricket is not his current focus and has stressed that domestic cricket will be his top priority in the months ahead. Amir made a return to competitive cricket this year after serving out a ban for his role in spotfixing during Pakistan's tour to England in 2010. "My focus is on domestic cricket at the moment and it would be premature for me to start thinking about when or if I will play for Pakistan again, Amir said. "I'm not worrying over when I will play for Pakistan, instead I am just focussing on my domestic form and then leaving the rest to the selectors. "I have to take things step by step and not try to get ahead of myself. International cricket is a tough environment it's not a joke. There is a lot of pressure on you in international cricket and I feel that I have to ensure that I am fully ready before I'm talked about for an international recall." While the ICC's ban officially ended on September 1, Amir was allowed to return to domestic cricket under the auspices of the PCB in January 2015. He made a return to competitive cricket with a Grade-2 match in March, before representing Rawalpindi Rams in the Haier Super8 T20 Cup. This season, he
played five matches for Rawalpindi Region in the Haier Mobile T20 Cup, claiming five wickets at an economy rate of 6.70. In a recent Quaid-eAzam qualifying match, Amir took seven wickets for Sui Southern Gas Company, including a five-for, against Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited. "I'm really satisfied with my seven wickets against ZTBL in my first four-day match after my ban," Amir said. "It couldn't have gone any better really on a very flat track. I feel as if day by day, my bowling is improving. As you will have seen in the tournament in Rawalpindi my pace is increasing and my confidence is higher now so the signs are very good." Amir stated that fourday games would be an important assessment of fitness and strength. "With fitness comes rhythm and confidence; all three work in tandem. The more cricket I play, the fitter and stronger I feel and that helps me technically and mentally. I'm reaching a very important phase in my comeback soon and that is playing fourday cricket for the first time," he said. "When I play four-day cricket that will be a true test of my levels of fitness and whether I still have the ability to swing the ball both ways. I'm feeling stronger with each match but as I say, playing four-day cricket will be a sterner test of my abilities." While there are still a few concerns about Amir's reintegration to
competitive cricket, he expressed his gratitude to the ICC, PCB and fans: "I really appreciative of the ICC's decision for allowing me the opportunity to return to cricket before my ban was due to end. In addition, I'm also very grateful to the Pakistan Cricket Board for allowing me to play domestic
FEDERER FAN WAKES UP AFTER 11-YEAR COMA AND ASKS 'HOW'S ROGER DOING?'
Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore.
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cricket ahead of my ban and to use their facilities at the National Cricket Academy in Lahore." "I can't thank the crowds in Rawalpindi and around Pakistan enough for their overwhelming support wherever I have played. It's a major boost for me and for my confidence."
SPORTS DESK Spaniard Jesus Aparicio suffered serious injuries in 2004 but after regaining consciousness, his first thoughts were for his Swiss idol who has now won 17 Grand Slam titles After waking up from an 11year coma following a serious car crash, there was only one thing on the mind of Jesus Aparicio: Roger Federer. Aparicio had been unconscious since December 2004 but the Spaniard remembered seeing his idol beat Lleyton Hewitt to win the US Open – his third Grand Slam of the year. He suffered his injuries while out celebrating his 18th birthday but received a very belated present when he woke up in August this year and discovered Federer was still reaching Grand Slam finals. An online news website reported that Aparicio said: “It came like a flash to my mind and I asked about Roger. “I thought he had retired. When I knew that at 34 years old, he is still playing and is number two in the world, I thought they were kidding me. I could not believe it. “When I heard that he reached 17 slam titles, I put my hands on my face. I knew Federer was very good but I never thought he could win all he has won.” Aparicio, from Seville, added: “I want to see him play before he retires, perhaps see his 18th slam. It would be the dream of my life.”