SSGC coach reveals plan to find Amir’s form

Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) Head Coach Atiquz Zaman has revealed his plan to help pacer Mohammad Amir in reviving his career for Pakistan.    

Since delivering that match-winning spell against arch-rivals India during last year’s International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, the left-armer has endured tough outing in the 50-over format and his biggest disappointment came in the recently concluded Asia Cup, where he went wicketless in three matches and was dropped for the virtual semi-final against Bangladesh. He was subsequently left out for the two-Test series against Australia as well.

Following his poor run in international cricket, the pacer will now switch to domestic cricket and play for SSGC to regain his lost form with the ball.

SSGC coach Zaman, who played one Test and three ODIs for Pakistan, said that his coaching staff have a plan in place to help Amir to regain his lost form.

“Amir has lost his swing and we are looking to work on it,” Zaman told Cricbuzz. “We have Kabir Khan, one of the finest of his time, as a bowling coach with us. We will sit with Amir and work on his wrist position, usage of crease and other technical aspects of the game. We are in a process of devising a complete plan for him and have had discussions about what needs to be done.”

Amir — who made his first-class return in 2015 with SSGC after serving five-year ban for taking part in the spot-fixing scandal— is averaging over 100 in ODIs with just three wickets in 10 games in the last 12 months, and Zaman believes this dip in form is down to lack of first-class cricket.

“I have said it earlier and now I’m saying it again that Amir needs more first-class and Quaid-e-Azam Trophy matches before making his return to international cricket,” he said. “He used to get fatigued after a match and that is because he did not play enough domestic cricket before being selected for Pakistan. Now we have a plan for him where he will play a four-day match initially and then rest in the next so he can play white-ball cricket. We need to get him back to where he was in the white-ball cricket because that is where he can be the most effective for Pakistan.”