5 early-career comparisons of cricketers that failed to live up to expectations

#4 Mohammad Amir Wasim Akram

Labeled as the next Wasim Akram, Amir went from being a teenage star to a disgraced kid

At 18, a young left-hander from Pakistan could get the ball to do things that seasoned professionals couldn’t. He could swing it both ways when opening the bowling and then reverse-swing the older ball to bamboozle batsman.

When not swinging the ball, he would unsettle an unsuspecting batsman with a bouncer hurled at upwards of 140km/h. The teenager was earmarked to propel the national team and his start was more than promising.

Mohammad Amir idolized Wasim Akram, was handpicked by Wasim Akram himself and by the former great’s own admission, was “cleverer” than he was at 18.

Those words would come back to haunt Akram as he and the world watched Amir’s career come crashing down in the spot-fixing scandal. Just as Amir picked up the man-of-the-series medal for his 19 wicket haul in the four-match series in England in 2010, Scotland Yard was busy investigating his role in the scandal.

The series was to be his last before he served a six-month prison term and a five-year ban from the game.

If a teary eyed and an emotional Michael Holding lamented the loss on TV, Michael Atherton wrote in favour of a lenient sentencing owing to Amir’s age. Not all, however, shared the same sentiments. Ian Healy, Michael Vaughan, and Andrew Flintoff were some of the prominent former cricketers that called for a life-ban.

Amir was the darling of the dressing room and ended up in prison labeled a bad-boy. For someone that was called “a sparkling young talent” by Mark Nicholas in the backdrop of his 5 for 79 against Australia at the MCG, Amir’s fall was just as dramatic as his meteoric rise.

Having served his ban and still only 23, Amir has now been handed a second chance. Pardoned by his team members and picked in the Pakistan touring party to New Zealand, the southpaw stands at the cusp of redeeming himself.

As the world watches in anticipation, it remains to be seen, however, if he still retains the powers that once propelled him to international stardom as a teenager.