Karachi: Tainted Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir on Wednesday got a taste of how difficult it would be to win back the confidence of the cricket community when he was termed a thief in a domestic match here.
The match referee in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy qualifying tournament fined both Amir and discarded Test batsman Faisal Iqbal for clashing on the field during the match between PIA and Sui Southern Gas.
"Apparently Amir was sledging Faisal and some other PIA team players during the match and at one stage the situation got out of hand and the latter reminded him of his deeds and called him a 'Chor' (thief)," a source said.
He said that Amir had retorted back by advising Faisal to stop relying on his uncle (Javed Miandad) and to play cricket on his own. "This is the first time that Amir has been reminded of his spot-fixing deeds in domestic cricket since he was allowed to resume playing domestic cricket by the ICC and Pakistan cricket board this year," the source said.
The 22-year old pacer has been in prime form for his department, Sui Southern Gas bowling them into the main rounds of the premier first class tournament with 33 wickets in four matches including four five wickets in an innings hauls.
Amir and his teammates Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were first banned for five years and then also served varying jail terms in 2011 after being found guilty of spot-fixing.
They completed their bans last month but Amir was allowed to resume playing domestic cricket six months before his ban ended by the ICC under a special relaxation clause of the anti-corruption code.
PCB has however announced a reintegration/rehabilitation programme for the trio which runs until February 2016 and effectively rules them out of first class cricket until then.
But Amir due to the special relaxation allowed to him by the ICC has been permitted to also represent Sui Gas in first class tournament from October 26th in the main rounds. He has also been included in the initial list of players for the Bangladesh Premier League which is scheduled from November 25.
The source said Amir through his agent had already approached the PCB and asked for permission to play the BPL if possible.
Meanwhile, tall left arm pacer Mohammad Irfan has also been caught up in a ball tampering row in the qualifying rounds but the team which initially made the accusation against him (State Bank) have now changed their stance.
"We never made any official complaint over ball tampering with reference to Irfan to the match referee," the State Bank manager Zaheerul Hassan said.
