da winzada777： Wahab Riaz says that he and his Pakistan team-mates will treat Mohammad Amir “like a little brother” ahead of his hugely anticipated return to Test cricket at Lord’s next month
da aposte e ganhe： Andrew Miller20-Jun-2016Wahab Riaz says that he and his Pakistan team-mates will treat Mohammad Amir “like a little brother” in a bid to relieve the pressure of his hugely anticipated return to Test cricket at Lord’s next month.Amir, 24, who last week told ESPNcricinfo that he was “terribly lucky” to be resuming his Test career after a six-year hiatus, was sentenced to six months in jail and banned from all cricket for five years after being found guilty of bowling no-balls to order as part of a sting by the now-defunct newspaper, News of the World.By a quirk of fate, his comeback Test is set to take place at Lord’s, the very same venue where he, along with his co-conspirators, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, were implicated in a scam that rocked the world of cricket.’Confidence is the key to bowling quick’
Wahab Riaz believes that self-confidence has been the key to his eye-catching displays of fast bowling in recent months, including a memorable duel with Shane Watson during the 2015 World Cup, and a match-winning spell against England in the second Test in Dubai last winter.
“I’ve always tried to bowl fast but maybe I haven’t risen to the occasion in the same way, but for the past two years I’ve been bowling really well when my team has required it, which has really made a name for me,” he said.
“There’s a lot of expectations on me, but I’ve always worked hard in the past, I am doing nothing different, I am just getting more accurate and more confident in myself, so that’s the confidence that is taking me along. By the grace of God I am performing really well for my team and I want to keep going like that.”
Wahab, who also played in that 2010 contest having made his Test debut in Pakistan’s victory in the preceding match at The Oval, knows that the hype surrounding Amir will be intense ahead of his comeback on July 14, but speaking during a Chance to Shine event in East London, he said he believes that the Pakistan squad will be sufficiently united and relaxed to cope with the extra pressures.”You can see the laugh on my face,” Wahab told ESPNcricinfo, when asked to imagine the scene of walking through the Long Room on the first morning of the match. “It’s going to be the same [as any match], it’s going to be nothing different. If you play cricket and enjoy your cricket, you are able to perform. If you take the stress, or are worried about other things, you are not able to perform.”Only time will tell how the crowd will react to Amir and his team-mates – Lord’s is not by nature the most demonstrative of venues, although the spectators certainly made their feelings known on the morning after the NOTW revelations six years ago. Wahab, however, said that the team would grin and bear it, whatever the response.”Obviously you cannot say anything to the crowd, people come there to watch the cricket, they have their own right to do whatever – to celebrate, or wish you good luck or wish you bad luck – so that’s not in our hands,” he said.”What is in our hands is to go into the ground and have a smile on our faces. We know what our goal is and we know how to achieve our goal, so we have to do that. We have to enjoy our cricket, we have to laugh all the time, if anyone says anything, a smile can do everything for them.”For Amir, however, the return to the scene of his crime will be an experience that few players in history would ever hope to encounter. Wahab, who is set to share the strike-bowling duties with his Pakistan team-mate, knows how important it will be to rally round a player whose recall did cause some initial consternation in the squad, with Mohammad Hafeez among the most notable players to express his displeasure at sharing the stage with a proven spot-fixer.”Obviously he has struggled a lot,” Wahab said. “He has learned a lot of things in the past five years, he has become more strong, and he wants to answer everyone with his performances, and that’s what he’s really looking for.”As a team, as a squad of 17 plus our team management, all of us are going to support Mohammad Amir,” he added. “We are all behind him, we are all supporting him, whenever he needs us, however he needs us, we will be around him all the time.”So he is not the one who is being left alone, he is a part of our family. He is the youngest part of our family, so he is like a kid to us, he’s like a brother to us, a son to most of our senior players. We are always here for him, we are going to support him, and we will push him up because we know what kind of capability he has in his bowling and how he can perform. With all our support and by the help of Allah, he will perform very well and Pakistan will do really good in this tour.”Wahab Riaz and Mohammad Amir will lead Pakistan’s pace attack against England•AFP
Since his ban was lifted at the end of last year, Amir has picked up 16 wickets in 13 ODI and T20 appearances, including a stunning three-wicket burst against India in the group stages of the Asia Cup in February. And Wahab, who has spearheaded the Test attack in Amir’s absence, is looking forward to being reunited in conditions that ought to play right into their hands.”I know five years is a long time but we have seen him since he made his comeback to the Pakistan side, the way he has bowled in New Zealand and in the World Cup and Asia Cup, I think he has showed a glimpse of how capable he is, how skilful he is,” said Wahab.”In England, they are very useful conditions for a fast bowler who swings the ball really well or seams the ball really well. He has got that capability to do that, so he will be one of the most difficult opponents for the England team, so they should look forward to play him well.”Wahab added that he did not wish to dwell on Pakistan’s experiences in 2010 – “whatever happened five years ago, it has been finished now” – but he recognised the importance of putting on a show that helps to restore his country’s reputation in England.”We are not worried about what has happened, and what will happen. It is all about cricket this year, and we will prove ourselves a good Test team here in England,” he said. “We played really good in the last series [in England] as well, we were [trailing] 2-1 until the last Test match, so all our concentration and focus is on how we can play here and win over here.”Pakistan’s determination to rise to the challenge on this tour has been highlighted by their early arrival in England. They begin the first of their two warm-up matches, against Somerset at Taunton, on July 3, but have been acclimatising to English conditions at Hampshire’s Ageas Bowl ever since their arrival in the country on Saturday.”The team is really looking forward to the tour,” Wahab said. “Everybody is set to go, because under the captaincy of Misbah [ul-Haq], we are very much united and looking for wins all the time. He is leading us from the front as a captain, this is going to be an important series for us and we are looking forward to winning.” This summer, Chance to Shine Patron Adrian Beecroft will match donations to the charity. Donate at chancetoshine.org/donate
