Daily Times

Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir was glad to be among the wickets once again, after he claimed all three Windies wickets during Pakistan’s 2019 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup game against West Indies. While speaking in a video message released by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Amir said that a bowlers only gains confidence by picking up wickets. “A bowler only gains in confidence when he takes wickets and in my case, in the recent past, wickets had stopped coming,” said Amir. “Now I have started taking wickets and this is also beneficial to the team if I as a main strike bowler am able to take wickets.” The left-arm pacer was also disappointed with the team’s performance against Windies, at Trent Bridge on Friday.

“This was the first World Cup game, and that is always important for the tournament as that is where the team gets it momentum from,” he said. “But, this can happen in cricket and any team will feel sad if they lose a match.” The 27-year-old also backed his team to do well in upcoming matches.

“What we need to do is to lift ourselves for the next matches of this tournament,” he said. “No one has any doubts about this team’s abilities but we need to do better in future matches.” He added: “In the Champions Trophy we lost the first game and then built momentum later on,” he said. “We need to play with a positive mindset and should not get disheartened; we need to focus on the matches ahead. In this World Cup, whichever team plays fearless cricket will be the top side.”

Despite a poor day with the ball for pacers Wahab Riaz and Hasan Ali, Amir still had faith in his fellow fast-bowlers. “Both Hasan Ali and Wahab are very good; we all know that Hasan has been performing well for past one and half years, and also Wahab Riaz has been performing well also,” he said. However, former Pakistan captain Misbahul Haq was not impressed with Amir’s performance against the West Indies.

While speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Misbah was critical of left-arm pacer’s lack of effort while bowling. “Amir got three wickets but still I am worried about his bowling form because your premium fast-bowler comes in to bowl the first over and his average speed is 81,” Misbah said. “[He bowled with] no swing, no zip, and certainly the opposition just feels comfortable. You are not just telling them that we are here, you are just not giving them the presence that we are here to fight,” he added.