Amir rules out World Cup chances

Mohammad Amir has ruled out the possibility of playing in the 2015 World Cup. Amir, who is serving a five-year ban for spot-fixing, said he didn't have a "realistic" chance of playing in the event, which begins on February 14, despite the efforts of the PCB to persuade the ICC to relax the ban on the left-arm fast bowler.

Under the current terms of his ban, Amir will be available for national selection from September 2015. The PCB requested the ICC, during its annual conference last year, to make a few concessions to his ban, including allowing Amir to use the board's training facilities. The ICC set up a five-member committee to "review and recommend amendments to the ICC Anti-Corruption Code", and the re-drafted code will be discussed at the ICC's next annual conference in October.

"I don't see myself playing in the World Cup," Amir said, on a television talk show. "It is not realistic, because all these things have to go through a process. I am just grateful to the cricket board for taking up my case. I will be ready whenever I am given the chance to resume training or playing."

Amir said the early success he tasted lured him "down the wrong path", and urged the PCB to take measures to educate young players against corruption.

"What I did was wrong and I got lost in all the fame and wealth," Amir said. "I went down the wrong path. There are people who try to lure cricketers down the wrong path and into corruption and they need to be stopped.

"I would suggest to the PCB to appoint a committee of senior players who can be tasked with keeping a watch on young players in domestic cricket and also in the national team and who can groom and educate these players on how to avoid the pitfalls of world cricket."

He added, though, that the ultimate responsibility rests with the player himself.

"Seniors can play a big role in educating the new players," he said. "But at the end, it is also a fact that, as an individual, one has to be honest with oneself. If you are honest then no one can touch you."