Steve Smith names Mohammad Amir as toughest bowler
Amir has dismissed Smith thrice in 18 international games, once in each format.
(Web Desk) – Australian star Steve Smith has revealed that Pakistan quick Mohammad Amir is the “most skillful” bowler he has faced, during an Instagram Q&A on June 14.
Answering a fan, who asked Smith “the most difficult bowler he has faced”, Smith mentioned Amir, the 28-year-old left-arm paceman, who retired from Tests last year to focus on white-ball cricket.
The two cricketers evidently share mutual admiration for each other; last month, Amir had called Smith the toughest batsman to bowl to among the current lot, lauding the Australian batsman’s “solid technique” for his success.
Amir has dismissed Smith thrice in 18 international games, once in each format. The T20I and Test dismissals came on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010, the same year Amir was convicted of spot-fixing and banned for five years. The sole ODI dismissal came during in Brisbane in 2017, when the Australian was dismissed by Amir for a first-ball duck.
Smith, currently the No.1-ranked batsman in Test cricket, also praised Amir’s Pakistan teammate Babar Azam, calling him a “very good player, who has a lot of time when he’s batting.”
While Smith admitted it recently, Kohli gave his opinion on the left-arm fast bowler on an Indian chat show with actor Aamir Khan in 2017.
When asked, Virat Kohli had stated: “In the recent times, Mohammad Amir of Pakistan [is the hardest to face]. He is in the top two or three bowlers in the world and one of the toughest bowlers I have played in my career. You have to be on your ‘A’ Game when you’re facing him or he will strike. Outstanding, a very good bowler.”
