Lord’s, summer of 2010.
With England struggling on 52 for five, 18-year-old Mohammad Amir spoke for a long time with captain Salman Butt. Then he ran in to bowl the third ball of the 19th over. Again umpire Billy Bowden called ‘no ball’ and Matt Prior fended the short delivery to the leg side to pick up a single.
When the replay zoomed in on the young paceman’s delivery step, Michael Holding exclaimed in the commentary box: “How far was that?”
Ian Botham replied, “It’s like net bowling.”
When it became apparent, by virtue of a sting operation, that the heads of Butt, Amir and Mohammad Asif were on the line for spot-fixing, Holding could not hold back his tears. His primary concern was Amir. A fabulous young talent seemed to have embarked on a dangerous road to hurting disaster, and it really hurt.
The verdict was finally out on February 5, 2011, five and a half months after the infamous Lord's Test. Butt was banned for 10 years, Asif 7 and Amir 5.
In November 2011 a London court handed jail terms to the three. Butt was sentenced to two years and six months, Asif one year, and Amir six months.
Thankfully, all that is in the past. Amir is now back in action for Pakistan, and has gone past 100 Test wickets.
Text: Arunabha Sengupta
Illustration: Maha