The main question over this is whether he will or should ever be welcomed in the Pakistani Team again because of the immense shame he brought to the nation through being a part in corruption? Admittedly, a peripheral part in the corruption and a role he accepted guilt for. Though the level of wrong is never an issue, it is more a point of the act itself and in this case his actions were tantamount to treason, making them hard to forgive and impossible to forget. Meaning the stench of a ‘fixers tag’ that Pakistan has worked so hard to put in its past, would again become center stage if he is allowed back into the team. Just by the fact that once you have been proven of being under handed, mud sticks, no matter how rehabilitated and principled you become. His only saving grace is his age of 19 allowing redemption to be found for his sins. In regards to, he was a boy surrounded by men in a cut throat game where wads of huge amounts of money were on offer. So it is alright to talk about taking the moral high ground as an onlooker, but a whole lot more difficult when you are a part of a circle where nightmares could be made to come true if you resist.
If you take away the past and look in the present and future he could indeed be used as a face for the fight against corruption by leading impressionable youth away from possible bad choices.
There is little doubt that greatness was his destiny, with his skill as a left arm swing bowler that had the likes of Imran Khan resemble him in talent and skill to the immortal Wasim Akram. Then you throw into the bargain that he is a very good looking boy with a real charisma about him off the field, the potential for him to be used for future good is there for all to see through the fanzine that would worship his every deed on and off the field.
Ultimately Pakistan will have to weigh up his past against his present/future deciding whether vehement disdain or unbridled excitement is their overwhelming feeling. Ill throw my 2 cents in by hoping we see him making batsmen look real silly with his precocious talents when his ban expires.
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