5 magical spells bowled by Mohammad Amir

Mohammad Amir's spell of 3 for 18 against India in the Asia Cup T20I match on Saturday was one of the finest displays of fast bowling. He troubled the top order with pace and swing and had figures of 3 for 3 at one stage.Amir threatened to win the match single-handedly for Pakistan until Kohli stepped up his game. Kohli later conceded that he had congratulated Amir for the spell and what he had played was one of the finest examples of fast bowling.Indeed, Mohammad Amir was considered to be one of the best emerging talents when he first burst onto the scene. Now with controversies behind him, he would like to prove his talent to the world once again. Here are 5 magical spells bowled by Mohammad Amir in the past.

#5 3-23 against Australia (St. Lucia, Group Stage, ICC World T20 2010)

This is one of the most talked about matches of Mohammad Amir

One of the most talked about overs of Mohammad Amir is, of course, the five-wicket maiden that he bowled to Australia in the ICC World T20 in 2010. Amir came on to bowl the last over of that match in the first innings with Australia already having scored 191 and trying to kick on to 200.

But Amir quickly dismissed Brad Haddin off the first ball and followed it up with an unplayable yorker to dismiss Mitchell Johnson. Steve Smith, coming in as a no. 9, missed the ball and went for a run to be dismissed by Kamran Akmal. Nannes was run out of the next ball in an absolutely similar fashion.

The fifth ball was a dot and off the last delivery, Amir dismissed Tait caught behind to complete the five-wicket maiden. He ended up with figures of 4-1-23-3 in that match. However, Pakistan were unable to chase the Australian total of 191 and folded up for 157 eventually giving the Aussies an easy victory.

#4 5-79 against Australia (1st Test, Melbourne, December 2009)

Amir ended the innings with figures of 5 for 79

Very few have forgotten Mohammad Amir's dream spell against the Aussies at Melbourne in December 2009. The Pakistani seamers had struggled in the first innings as the Aussies piled on the runs. Amir had gone wicketless and Australia had posted a mammoth total of 454 on the board.

The Pakistani response had been subdued -- they could only manage 258 runs in their first innings conceding a healthy lead to the Aussies. With that deficit in mind, the Pakistani bowlers knew they had to put in a great performance in the second innings. And they did not disappoint as Amir led the charge.

Bowling with extraordinary pace and swing, Amir troubled all the Australian top order batsmen dismissing Ponting and Hussey in quick succession. Clarke, North and Haddin were also his eventual victims as Amir ended the innings with figures of 5 for 79.

#3 7-106 against Australia (2nd Test, Leeds, July 2010)

It was a memorable display of fast bowling from Amir at Leeds

One of the most memorable Test matches when Amir bowled a couple of dream spells was in the 2nd Test against Australia at Leeds in the MCC Spirit of Cricket Test Series in July 2010. Amir was in the form of his life back then and was troubling even the best of batsmen with his bowling.

It was a memorable display of fast bowling from the Pakistani quicks as Amir combined with Mohammad Asif to reduce the Australians to 29 for 4 in their first innings. The Aussies had no answer to the pace and swing from the Pakistani seamers as they were skittled out for an embarrassing total of 89 in their first innings. Amir and Asif shared three wickets each.

Pakistan scored 258 in their first innings to take a healthy lead. In the second innings, it was again the Amir show as he dismissed Watson, Katich, Ponting and Hussey to finish with figures of 4 for 86. He had figures of 3 for 20 in the first innings and thus finished the Test with 7 wickets giving away 106 runs.

Notwithstanding the strong Australian resistance in the second innings, Pakistan were comfortable winners in the end. Amir was adjudged the Man of the Match jointly with Shane Watson.

#2 4-28 against Sri Lanka (5th ODI, Colombo, August 2009)

Amir ended with his career-best ODI figures of 4 for 28 off 9 overs

2009 was the year when Mohammad Amir was on song. In their tour to Sri Lanka, Amir had bowled well consistently with pace and precision. But in the 5th ODI at Colombo, he took his game to another level as he completely demolished the Sri Lankan batting line-up.

Chasing 280 for victory, Sri Lanka were reduced to the embarrassing position of 74 for 8 as Amir polished off the top order. Bowling with rare pace and swing on an apparently placid Colombo pitch, Amir dismissed Tharanga, Jayawardene, Kapugedera and Mathews to leave Sri Lanka tottering.

Bandara ultimately provided the Sri Lankans with some face-saving grace as he scored a fighting 31. The Sri Lankans however folded up for 147 to give Pakistan a massive victory. Amir ended with his career-best ODI figures of 4 for 28 off 9 overs.

#1 6-84 against England (4th Test, Lord\'s, August 2010)

Amir bowled 28 overs in that innings, finishing with figures of 6 for 84

Mohammad Amir's best Test figures came at Lord's but it was also the occasion for an embarrassing defeat for the Pakistani team. In the 4th Test against England in that tour, England registered a thumping win by an innings and 225 runs.

In response to a massive first innings score of 446, Pakistan had a batting collapse, slumping to 74 in their first innings. Having been asked to follow on, they could manage only 147 runs in their second innings as they succumbed to one of their heaviest Test defeats.

The only positive thing for them was Mohammad Amir's spell in the first innings. Amir had bowled well throughout the tour and in the first innings, he was the only standout Pakistani bowler against the English batsmen.

Amir bowled his heart out and troubled the English batsmen accounting for the wickets of Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Prior and Swann. He bowled 28 overs in that innings, finishing with figures of 6 for 84. Unfortunately, he never got a steady support from the other end.