Arthur casts doubt over Amir’s World Cup spot

ABU DHABI: Of all the issues surrounding the current Pakistan set-up, the one that has been discussed time and again is the decline of Mohammad Amir.Amir, who was once the spearhead of the attack, has struggled to put up good performance in the one-day arena in recent times. However, the selection committee and team management have persisted with him, hoping that Amir would lift his game.Since the triumph against India in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in June 2017, Amir has taken only five wickets in 101 overs with his average skyrocketing to 92.60 in ODIs. Amir’s strike rate of 121 during the aforementioned period suggests he needs at least two games - considering he bowls his quota of 10 overs in a match - to pick up a wicket. What further puts Amir, a new-ball bowler, under scanner is the fact that he has snared a three-fer only four times in ODIs since his return in January 2016.With the World Cup less than two months away, Mickey Arthur for the first time, sounded unsure of Amir’s place in the side. The 26-year-old is set to warm the benches for the rest of the ongoing ODI series versus Australia. Amir was also dropped for the second match after he went wicketless in the series-opener and proved to be the most expensive bowler.For the large part of last year, Amir was deemed to be a big match player by the selection committee and team management. However, he was dropped for the entire ‘home season’ following an abysmal run in the Asia Cup. Over the course of the tournament, he failed to strike even once in his 18 overs across three matches. Amir returned to Pakistan’s domestic scene where he turned out for Sui Southern Gas Company in a handful of List A and first-class matches across two months.Meanwhile, Pakistan’s pace arsenal in ODIs continues to broaden after Mohammad Abbas and M Hasnain were handed debuts over the weekend. With Shaheen Afridi and Hasan Ali counted as the mainstays of the pace attack, the chances of Amir playing in his maiden 50-over World Cup looks bleak.

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