SARFRAZ’S YOUNGSTERS SHOW THEY’RE WORLD CLASS

WHAT a time for Mohammad Amir to produce one of the great opening spells in the history of one-day cricket. Seven years on from that day at Lord’s, what a story. To remove three of the tournament’s in-form batsmen — Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan — in the blink of an eye was special in its own right. To do so after being given a second chance by the sport adds the kind of twist to the narrative that Pakistan cricket seems to specialise in. I still remember that Lord’s Test in August 2010, when it emerged that Amir had deliberately bowled no-balls in a betting spot-fixing scandal, and especially the reaction of Michael Holding. Two of the subjects that stir Mikey’s emotions the most are young fast bowlers and corruption, and that day they collided in the worst fashion imaginable. It is why, when word spread that something was amiss, I said: ‘Please don’t let it be the young lad.’ So to see him bowl beautifully, once more on the world stage, against Pakistan’s biggest rivals and some of the best batsmen in the world . . . I take my hat off to him. Since he returned to international cricket, he has had catches dropped off his bowling, and he must have thought ‘Here we go again’ when Azhar Ali at slip put down Kohli (below). But Amir’s great talent is creating chances, partly because of the left-arm angle. Kohli’s very good at moving across his stumps when he faces right-arm bowlers and working to leg. He tried the same here — but was done by the angle and got a leading edge to backward point. Those two balls summed up Pakistan cricket in all its incompetence and brilliance. You just can’t take your eyes off these blokes for one minute. The guy who took the catch was Shadab Khan, an 18-year-old who typifies the faith Pakistan have placed in youth. They have gone for lads who bring a buzz to their side, and it has worked a treat ever since they were brushed aside by India in their opening group match. Look at the way Fakhar Zaman has come in for Ahmed Shehzad and batted with the freedom that Pakistan were missing in that game. They have always had the bowlers to trouble the opposition, but Fakhar’s flair gives them the basis of a strong batting unit too. Hasan Ali has also been a revelation. When you have got him coming on after the two left-armers, Amir and Junaid Khan, plus the leg-spinner Shadab, you have a serious bowling line-up. I hope this result puts into perspective some of the rubbish that was spoken after Pakistan beat England in the semi-final. It was disrespectful to suggest that result had anything to do with the pitch. The fact that Ben Stokes failed to hit a boundary in 64 balls showed how fine Pakistan’s bowling was. This game was a glorious reminder.