It may have been just another limited-overs game in the Bangladesh league, but it did feature an incident open to various interpretations in and about Pakistan.
It was Mohammad Hafeez versus Mohammad Amir — for many, it was the so-called professor standing up to one who had strayed early in life, the ‘moral custodian’ to someone who had served a prison sentence.
It raised some very basic questions about punishment and rehabilitation, a question which this country is repeatedly faced with.
‘Co-option’ and ‘rehabilitation’, in all spheres of life here, are key words in discussions about who is allowed by which powers to assert his presence at a particular time.
Likewise, maybe more than bound by any standards of fairness, the PCB is compelled by its own needs to try and fast-track Amir’s return to the national side.
Also read: Amir trumps Hafeez in BPL showdown
The national team has not been doing all that well. It is weak and vulnerable in the batting department; in the bowling section Amir is an exciting and promising option that the cricket board cannot quite afford to ignore at the moment.
Already, there are reports of how keen the PCB and the national coach are to include the fast bowler as an instant boost to the side and it is said that an effort is soon going to be undertaken to convince those who disagree, such as Mohammad Hafeez and others who have assigned sinister reasons to whatever the left-armer does.
There is little doubt that if they want him badly enough, the cricket bosses will succeed in having their man back.
The tricky part for some observers of the game is that this reinduction will also open the door for the return of Mohammad Asif, a swing bowler of some repute around the cricket grounds, and also batsman and the then-captain Salman Butt.
However, the PCB has taken a strong line on the two cricketers, due to their obstinacy in denying all charges. At the moment, the PCB is, rightly, not inclined to welcome them back.
Published in Dawn, December 9th, 2015
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