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Playing for Pakistan isn’t important: Kaneria takes a dig at Amir

Leg-spinner was banned for life by ECB after being found guilty of corruption

Playing for Pakistan isn’t important: Kaneria takes a dig at Amir PHOTO: AFP

Banned Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria took a dig at Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir for giving preference to Twenty20 leagues over playing Test cricket for the national side.

Kaneria was banned for life by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), in 2012, after being found guilty of corruption. The leg-spinner was found guilty of encouraging or attempting to encourage Essex teammate Mervyn Westfield to underperform in a match in 2009.

The Pakistani, who took 261 wickets in 61 Tests and also played in 18 One-day Internationals (ODIs), was described in the ECB ruling as having “shown no remorse and sought to cast blame on other plainly innocent persons”.

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Amir announced his retirement from Test matches, with immediate effect, in July last year. He featured in 36 Tests, taking 119 wickets at an average of 30.47.

 “The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) supported Mohammad Amir but when we needed him in Test cricket, he retired and started focusing on league cricket,” said Kaneria in a YouTube video. “Playing for Pakistan is not important for him but league cricket is.”

Amir, who made his international debut at 17, served three months in an English jail for corruption and a five-year ban for his role in a spot-fixing scandal surrounding a Test against England at Lord’s in 2010.