Call it karma or just luck but Pakistan left-arm pacer Muhammad Amir on Tuesday made Muhammad Hafeez eat his words during a Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match.
The encounter between Chittagong Vikings and Dhaka Dynamites had already promised firecrackers after Hafeez had issued a statement saying he would not play alongside Amir, who recently served a five-year ICC ban for spot-fixing.
“I was approached by my agent to play for the Chittagong team but when I knew that Amir was also in that team I refused it point blank,” Hafeez told AFP.
“If any other team makes me an offer then I will play the league and I have no problems facing Amir as I have played against him in the domestic matches but can’t be in the same team.”
In the match, where Dhaka are currently batting first after losing the toss to Chittagong, Pakistani leg-spinner Yasir Shah and Shykat Ali opened the batting.
Both openers went back to the pavillion cheaply inside four overs.
Amir, then came on to bowl the fifth over with the ‘Professor’ on strike. Hafeez left the first good-length ball which was pitched on the off stump. The second ball was a shorter delivery outside off again. Hafeez tried to cut it but the bounce beat him. Third time lucky, Hafeez was able to touch the ball with his bat. A delivery on the off stump was defended towards point.
And then came the final blow. Hafeez tickled an outgoing ball to the keeper and it was curtains for the Professor. Only two players shared the limelight in that moment; an ecstatic Amir and a disappointed Hafeez!
After that Kumar Sangakkara and Mosaddek Hossain stabled the innings for the Dynamites adding 56 runs for the fifth wicket.
Amir, meanwhile, bagged two more wickets in the last over of the match.
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