Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir booed on return to international cricket

Auckland Mohammad Amirs return to international cricket after a fiveyear gap was not a happy one as the controversial Pakistan pacer was booed by the crowd during the first Twenty20 International T20I against New Zealand here on FridayThe 23yearold was making his first appearance for Pakistan since returning from a fiveyear ban for being implicated in a spotfixing scandal in 2010 The leftarm pacer from Gujar Khan Pakistan opened the bowling and claimed the wicket of lowerorder batsman Matt Henry returning figures of 131 from his four oversMohammad Amir of Pakistan bowls during the second T20 match between New Zealand and Pakistan at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday PicAFPAmir was at the centre of a spotfixing controversy in August 2010 when he was convicted for bowling deliberate noballs during a Test match against England at Lords He was subsequently jailed for three months in November 2011 along with two other Pakistan players Salman Butt and Mohammad AsifHis suspension originally covered all forms of the game but he was cleared to play domestic cricket in Pakistan in January 2015Amir however is facing several restrictions during the current tour He is not allowed to leave his hotel and meet anyone without the prior permission of the Pakistan Cricket Board PCBBatting first Pakistan posted a total of 1718 at the Eden Park and then dismissed the Kiwis for 155 runsThe 23yearold leftarm pacer was making his firstappearance for Pakistan since returning from a fiveyear banand jail time for being implicated in a spotfixing scandal in2010Pakistan defeated the hosts by 16 runs to take a 10 leadin the threematch series with Mohammad Hafeez scoring 61 asthey reached 171 for eight Shahid Afridis astute captaincycoupled with an allround effort helped Pakistan overcome NewZealands challengeAmir opened the bowling taking 131 from four oversbut did not batBack home however the Pakistan cricket fraternity wasrelieved to see Amir make a comebackThe crowds and people in New Zealand are very hospitableand friendly and they understand cricket I was not expectingthem to react to Aamirs comeback today wicketkeeperbatsmanKamran Akmal saidAmir was also welcomed by his former teammates SalmanButt and Mohammad Asif who served fiveyear bans and varyingjail time for involvement in the spotfixing scandal thatbroke out in the aftermath of the Lords Test in 2010Whatever happened on that tour to England is now historybut we have all learnt a lot from it We learnt that oneshould never let your people team and supporters down nor tryto spoil an otherwise beautiful sport Butt saidAsif said it is never easy for any pace bowler to make acomeback to international cricket after such a long timeI thought Amir handled the pressure well and bowledwell despite the spotlight on him Asif saidPakistans former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar said he washappy to see the young Aamir given a second chanceIn the end we must keep in mind these three have servedtheir time and they are repentant and changed people nowAmirs comeback to the team will only benefit Pakistancricket Akhtar saidFormer Test player Mohammad Yousuf said Amir deserved achance to wear the Pakistan shirt againI am hopeful he has learnt his lesson and will now tryto win back the confidence of everyone He did well today andI think in a couple of matches he will be back to his bowlingprowess the former captain saidPakistan manager Intikhab Alam said the victory over NewZealand lifted the spirits of the playersThe good thing is that Aamir is positive confident andmaking everyone put in an effort to gel with the otherplayers He is doing well