Mohammad Amir, who is making a comeback to international cricket after a five-year gap, will be the centre of attention when New Zealand hosts Pakistan for a T20 and an ODI series. Three matches will be played in both formats of the game with the series starting with the first T20 on Friday at Eden Park.
Amir had, in fact, shamed Pakistan cricket for his involvement in a spot-fixing case in 2010, where he deliberately bowled no-balls against England. As a result of this, the left-arm pacer was found guilty and even jailed for 6 months. His five-year ban was originally scheduled to expire in September 2015, but was allowed to play domestic cricket in Pakistan early last year.
The Pakistan players, who reached Eden Park on Tuesday, have started their training for the much-anticipated series, but they had to be content with training indoors due to rain.
One is not certain as to how will Amir perform in his first comeback match, but there is great pressure on Amir to perform as the player's inclusion in the team had sparked controversy initially as few Pakistani players -- Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali -- were not pleased with it.
However, the Pakistan Cricket Board have sorted out the issue and the team are keen to defeat New Zealand in both the T20 and ODI series. Pakistan coach Waqar Younis feels Amir is up for it.
"It is hard to exactly tell how the whole thing is going to come up but my experience says that he is a smart kids even at the age of 18 he was smart then," Waqar told reporters.
"He knows what he is doing and he is ready for that challenge. From what I have seen, he looks like the one but of course once he gets into the international level we will find out more."
However, One should not expect the youngster to impress straight away in his first T20 match the way he did before his disappointing spot-fixing case in 2010.
"He is not what you will have seen five years ago, but he is definitely there or thereabouts," added Waqar.
"Maybe he is not exactly there, but once he starts playing at the international level you will see the best of him."
