If Shakib can make a comeback then Amir can too: PCB Chief selector

Pakistan Cricket Board's chief selector Haroon Rashid has come up with positive statements when asked whether retired pacer Mohammad Amir can make a comeback to the national side.

The selector naturally pointed out that the pacer would have to come out of his retirement to be in contention for the national side.

Haroon brought forward Shakib Al Hasan as an example in this case saying that if the ace all-rounder can make a comeback following a one-year ban then Pakistan players could do the same. He also stated that there were no restrictions imposed on the selection of Amir as long as he makes himself available for selection. 

"Amir is an excellent pacer. But the ball is in his court, not ours. If Amir wants to serve Pakistan cricket, then our doors are open for him. He will have to take his retirement back first, so we know, which players are available," said Haroon.

"Similarly, Imad Wasim and Sharjeel Khan will also have to follow the fitness standards set and perform in domestic and PSL to make a comeback," he added.

"If Shakib Al Hasan and Marlon Samuels can make a comeback after their bans, so our players, who have served their time, can also make a comeback," he clarified.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned Shakib Al Hasan from all forms of cricket for two years, with one year of that suspended, after he accepted three charges of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code in 2019.

Shakib was found to be in breach of ICC's Anti-Corruption Code for failing to report an approach by bookies. According to the media release,

The all-rounder was approached during the home tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka last year in January before he was approached a second time during the same series.

Amir was banned in 2010 when the then 19-year-old was suspended for five years by the ICC after being found guilty of deliberately bowling no balls against England at Lord's in last year's spot-fixing scandal.