Boundary Line: PCB to press for Amirs return to domestic cricket

Banned Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir is praying the ICC will grant him a reprieve to play domestic cricket.

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PCB to press for Amirs return to domestic cricket

Karachi: Banned Pakistan paceman Mohammad Amir is praying the ICC will grant him a reprieve to play domestic cricket as he seeks to resume a career that stalled under ignominious circumstances. Amir,a bright prospect who made his international debut at 17,served three months in an English jail for corruption and is three years into a five-year ban for his role in a spot-fixing scandal surrounding a Test against England at Lords in 2010. The PCB,currently run by an interim committee headed by Najam Sethi,will take up Amirs case at an ICC board meeting this weekend and plead for a review of his ban on legal and compassionate grounds. What I did in 2010 was terrible and wrong and I have paid the price for it. I have lost my image and hurt my country and family, Amir said on Friday. But everyone gets a second chance in life. I pray the ICC will give me a second chance.

Saurashtra bulwark Sitanshu Kotak calls time

New Delhi: Senior Saurashtra batsman Shitanshu Kotak has decided to call time on his two-decade long first-class career following his sides Ranji Trophy opener against Rajasthan in Rajkot later this month. Kotak,who begun his career against Bombay in December 1992,has played 129 matches so far,scoring 7,996 runs at an average of 41.64 and 15 hundreds. Kotak,who will turn 41 on Saturday,said he wanted to retire after Saurashtra reached the Ranji final last season but postponed it in the emotion of the moment. I felt the team had done so well to reach the final, he said. But now I feel the time has come to make way for someone young. It is a good time to go. There are so many youngsters around to take the team ahead. To have played for so long and not be dropped,I could not have asked for more. I would like to remain associated with the game in whatever manner possible after retirement, added Kotak,who also took 69 wickets in his career.

Duleep final: South Zone 33/2 on rain-curtailed Day Two

kochi: Only 10 overs of play was possible on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final as North Zone enjoyed the upperhand reducing South Zone to 33 for two in the brief session post tea. South Zone opted to bat while North received a setback when India discard Gautam Gambhir had to fly back to Delhi owing to viral fever. North pacers Mohit Sharma and Siddharth Kaul removed openers Lokesh Rahul 9 and Abhinav Mukund 7 respectively. While Rahul was dismissed when he mistimed a pull-shot off a rising delivery from Haryana pacer Mohit,Mukund was cleaned up by Kaul with a delivery that cut back sharply uprooting the middle-stump. Wicketkeeper CM Gautham was at the crease with the in-form Baba Aparajith.

Brief scores: South Zone 33/2 Lokesh Rahul 9,Mohit Sharma 1/11; Siddharth Kaul 1/13 vs North Zone.

Amla flies home for second childs birth

ABU DHABI: Hashim Amla flew back home on Friday to be with his wife,who is expecting a second child. While Cricket South Africa says it will not send a replacement for Amla,its unclear whether the top-ranked Test batsman will make it to Dubai before the second Test against Pakistan starts next Wednesday. Amla scored a gritty 118 in the first Test. Amla says,we take a lot of pride from our performance and this defeat has hurt,we set high standards for ourselves.