Mohammad Aamer (born 13 April 1992) is a Pakistani international cricketer. He is a left arm fast bowler, who opens the bowling inall formats of the game. He made his first-class debut in 2007, and his first One-Day International and Test appearance in 2009 in Sri Lanka, at the age of 17. However, he played his first international match during the 2009 ICC World Twenty20, where he played in every game, helping the national side win the tournament.[1][2]
Aamer has been touted as having the potential to be a leading fast bowler by former Pakistani left arm fast bowler Wasim Akram[3], who picked him out as a prospect in 2007[2]. Since Aamer's establishment in the international arena, former Pakistani batsmanRameez Raja, as well as Akram himself, have stated that “He is much cleverer than [Akram] at 18”.[3]
Contents[hide] |
[edit]Career
[edit]First-class cricket
Aamer was first selected as a fast bowler by the former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram at a fast bowling camp in 2007. Aamer, then 15 years old, went on a tour of England with the Pakistan Under 19 team and was one of the leading bowlers, he took 8 wickets at an average of 16.37. In 2008 he took 4 wickets in successive matches against Sri Lanka and England. In this tri-nation tournament played in Sri Lanka he again excelled with his speed and swing bowling taking 9 wickets at average of 11.22 in three matches. Due to injury he played only a limited part in the Under 19 World Cup in Malaysia in 2008[2]. In March 2008, he made his domestic debut for the Rawalpindi Rams whilst concurrently representing the National Bank of Pakistan. His debut domestic season resulted in him taking 55 first-class wickets for NBP. He took a lot of top order wickets including those of players in the national side. This strong domestic form resulted in him being selected for the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup. In the final of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup, Aamer bowled a wicket maiden in the opening over of the match, taking the wicket of Tillakaratne Dilshan who was later named player of the tournament.[2]
[edit]One Day International and Twenty20 career
Aamer made his One Day International match debut against Sri Lanka taking 3 wickets at an economy rate of 4.50 and also scoring 23 runs. -On November 9, 2009 he scored 73 runs against New Zealand which is a record for a number 10 batsman. With his batting partner Saeed Ajmal, Aamer added 103 runs to Pakistan's chase, only to fall short by 7 runs.[4].
Aamer made his international debut against England in the ICC World T20 Group Game. He took the wicket of Ravi Bopara with only his second ball, with Shoaib Malik taking a fine catch. He conceded only one run in his debut international over, however his subsequent two overs were comparatively costly. He managed to obtain speeds close to 90 mph on debut.[5]
Aamer continued to impress the Pakistan cricket team as the tournament continued taking a wicket in his opening spell in 6 of the 7 games he played, including the final. He was particularly effective at using the short ball, with his skiddy bouncers rushing onto the batsmen, often causing them to miss-hit the ball for a catch. Aamer consistently clocked speeds into the high 80s mph and bowled his quickest delivery in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup final against Sri Lanka, at 152 kilometres (92 mph).
His most important moment came in the opening over of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup final[6]. He bowled with speed and with consecutive short deliveries to the tournament's top scorerTillakaratne Dilshan obtained his wicket on the fifth delivery and managed to end the over with a wicket maiden.
He impressed the Pakistan cricket team, including Wasim Akram, who took credit for discovering Aamer, although Akram later commented that Aamer needed to gain more weight to aid his development [7].
Later in 2009, Pakistan toured Sri Lanka and in the first One Day International match, he shared a 62 run partnership with fast bowler Umar Gul for the tenth wicket but Pakistan lost by 36 runs. He also played a game against New Zealand in 2009–2010. During a match in the third One Day International match, when Pakistan were reduced to 8 wickets for 86 runs, he scored 73 runs not out, making the highest score by a number 10 batsman in One Day International cricket and putting on a 103 runs, 10th wicket partnership with Saeed Ajmal. He was unable to get his side to their victory target of 212 runs, as Ajmal was declare out in the last over and Pakistan lost by just 7 runs.[8]
Aamer took three wickets in a five wicket-maiden over in a Twenty20 International match against Australia in the initial stages of the 2010 World Cup.[9] The other two men were run out in the same over. This set a world record of three wickets for a bowler in Twenty20 and 5 wickets for a team in on over.
[edit]Test career
After his successful 2009 T20 World Cup tournament, Aamer was selected in the test squad for Pakistan for the series in Sri Lanka.[10] He was chosen alongside fast bowler Umar Guland Abdur Rauf, ahead of more notable and experienced names such as Sohail Tanvir. He started his Test career well, taking six wickets in the match, which included the wicket of Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara in both innings, as well as the Sri Lankan batsman, Mahela Jayawardene's wicket in the 2nd innings. However he did not get any wickets in his next two test matches. His next test wickets came in New Zealand where he managed to take four wickets in the first test match, during a losing game. He won his first test match with the Pakistan team during his 5th test match, as Pakistan won comprehensively by 141 runs, he managed to take three wickets in the match including the wicket of Ross Taylor, who scored 97 runs in the second innings. He shone brightly with the bat as well and showed a solid technique for a lower order batsman.
During the test match series against Australia in 2010, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he took his first five wicket haul, taking the wickets of Australian batsmen Ricky Ponting,Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke. On 24 July 2010 he was influential in helping Pakistan win the 2nd Test match against Australia; the first Test match Pakistan had won against them in 15 years, which also drew the series 1-1. During this match he took 7 wickets overall, and was declared man of the match.
[edit]Pakistan Cricket Board contract
Aamer was ignored by Pakistan Cricket Board when they awarded cricket contracts to Abdul Razzaq and Mohammad Yousuf, even after his brilliant performance in 2009 ICC World Twenty20.[11] Later on the Pakistan Cricket Board awarded Aamer a 'C' category contract
No comments:
Post a Comment