Riaz defends bowling partner Amir

Dubai - Amir returned to Test cricket to the very place where he was implicated in the spot-fixing saga - Lord's

Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz has said that nobody should question Mohammad Amir's abilities despite his bowling partner enduring a drought in the first innings of the day-night Test against the West Indies.
Amir, who made his return after the spot-fixing ban at the beginning of the year, went wicketless in 22 overs, bowling six maidens and conceding 54 runs.
But Riaz, who had worked up quite a bit of pace and had peppered the West Indian batsmen with bouncers to snap two wickets, defend Amir by saying that sometimes conditions do play a part.
 "There should not be any doubt on Amir's capabilities. He is one of the best bowlers. He can swing the ball, he can seam the ball and he is very sharp," said Riaz.
"But sometimes you have to look at the wickets and the ones we are playing on. It is not just Amir but any bowler would not find it easy. Even if you take the example of the West Indian bowlers, even they found it difficult because the ball is very different and it gets wet because of the dew," he added.
Amir, who returned to Test cricket to the very place where he was implicated in the spot-fixing saga - Lord's - took 12 wickets in those four Tests against England.
Meanwhile, Riaz who had his first experience with the pink ball in match conditions, found it quite different and difficult, especially after the dew left the ball wet and soft.
"It quite different and especially under lights, there are a lot of problems. And the reason is because the first two sessions are good but in the third session, a lot of dew comes in and the ball becomes wet. The seam becomes heavy and both the sides also become heavy. So, because of that, when you come in the next day, the ball had become soft and nothing was happening off the wicket, and the ball wasn't skidding as well. So, there are some problems and there was no conventional swing, nor reverse swing," observed Riaz.
james@khaleejtimes.com