Amir is a part of our family, we will support him : Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz has backed the young speedster saying the team wanted him to do well.

“Everyone's behind him -- all the other 16 members of the squad. He’s a part of our family, he’s a part of Pakistan, he's represented our country -- so we are all behind him. We will support him and we really want him to do well,” Riaz told Daily Mail.

Amir has been the target of much criticism ever since he was named in the Pakistani squad for the tour to England. English captain Alistair Cook said, “I’m sure there will be a reaction and that is right. That is part and parcel, that when you do something like that there are more consequences than just the punishment. That is something for him to cope with, whatever comes his way,” when asked about the crowd reaction to Amir’s return to Lord’s, the same ground where the spot-fixing scandal took place.

Inzamam-Ul-Haq had slammed the comments by Cook, saying, “How would the England captain feel if they were in Pakistan and our captain made a similar statement about some player? I see this as the start of a campaign to start pressuring Amir. Because not only England but even Australia and South Africa see him as a threat. And he can be a match-winner in England.”

The controversy did not stop there with Graeme Swann saying Amir’s return would make him sick. “This is a man who crushed the morality of the game. And yet he is being allowed back to play at the Home of Cricket. If you want to protect the integrity of the game, help cricket grow and inspire youngsters, there can be no place for corrupt players. You must have proper deterrents,” he wrote in The Sun.

Riaz also spoke about the talent in Pakistan’s bowling department, saying it would make up for the lack of experience. “I love to take responsibility. We're not a very experienced attack, but we all have the ability to win a Test match. Mohammad Amir, Rahat Ali, Sohail Khan, Yasir Shah - they can all win you a game,” Daily Mail reported.