Stuart Broad feels Mohammad Amir is genuinely apologetic about his actions

Amir picked up 19 wickets in four Tests against England, his last Test series before being banned

Stuart Broad revealed that he would not have any problems facing Pakistan’s Mohammad Amir in the future, ESPNCricinfo reports. The English fast bowler claims that it’s time to forget and forgive but added that he would rather focus on his own side than about the opposition.

The tainted trio of Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif recently served out their five-year ban for their role in the spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010. With the two teams set to face each other in the UAE starting next month.

Amir was overlooked for both the national team as well as the A squad, but could well make his return to the national setup by the time Pakistan tour England next summer. He has been in excellent form off late picking up five wickets in three matches during the ongoing national T20 tournament in Pakistan.

Broad claimed that though he is unsure how the face-off with Aamir would turn out like, he believes Amir has been punished enough and seems apologetic about his actions.

"I genuinely don't know what it'll be like [facing him again]," Broad told ESPNcricinfo. "There was obviously quite a big cloud over that Test series victory in 2010. But the ICC gave the players punishments and they are getting close to having served them.

"I've seen a few interviews that he's done and he seems sorry and keen to get back on a cricket field," Broad added. "But as a player you are not too bothered who you are playing against, to be honest, you go a bit internal and focus on what you do."

Amir was touted as one of the brightest prospects in the game ever since he made his debut for the national team back in 2009. Comparisons with the legendary Wasim Akram didn’t hold him back as he played a major role in Pakistan’s triumph at the 2009 T20 World Cup.

He continued making headlines with his exploits at the Test level with his performances in Australia and England, but the latter tour brought a premature halt to his promising young career. He picked 19 wickets in four Tests against England, thus reaching the landmark of 50 Test wickets in just his 14^th match. At 18 years of age, he also became the youngest cricketer to reach the above landmark.

The left-armer picked up 6 wickets in England’s only innings as Pakistan went on to lose the fourth and final Test at Lord’s by an innings and 225 runs, but more than the loss, it was Aamir, along with his skipper Butt and Asif getting caught in a sting operation that revealed the trio being involved in spot-fixing that brought shame to Pakistan cricket.

Five years down the line, with Butt and Asif into their thirties, Amir, who is still just 23, is touted as having the best possibility to resurrect his international career. Whether he makes a return or not to the national setup is up to the PCB but Broad is not too bothered about it and instead wants to focus on England solely.

"I think the mistakes we made as an England team this summer were maybe when we focused on the Australians too much and what other teams were doing," he said. "We've definitely learned from that mistake and it'll be very much about what we are doing within our changing room. What our team are doing to take us forward. Whoever we are playing against we'll be right on the money."