Former Pakistan captain turned commentator Rameez Raja yes­terday (Wednesday) criticised the lobbying for the return of pace­man Mohammad Amir, banned for spot-fixing, saying his return would expose the team to the “virus”.

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Amir, Salman Butt and Moham­mad Asif were banned in a spot-fixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

The International Cricket Coun­cil, at the request of the Pakistan Cricket Board, earlier this month revised its anti-corruption code, paving the way for all the banned players to feature in first-class crick­et a few months before their bans ex­pire.

Ramiz questioned why Amir’s return was fast-tracked.

“Why is the world so keen to see Aamer back? The managers of the game, who for whatever reason are trying to fast-track him into the very system that he had wronged, have obviously not experienced the pangs of betrayal and cheating that fixing causes,” wrote Raja in his Cricinfo column.

Raja said the Pakistan players need to be asked would they like to play alongside Amir.

“Someone needs to ask the play­ers if they at all want Amir back. After years of perseverance, Mis­bah-ul-Haq and his men have been able to salvage Pakistan cricket and its image.

“Should they be exposed to a virus now? How unjust would it be to the performers who have toiled long and hard to make way for a man whose integrity is still suspect,” he said.

Raja, who played 57 Tests and 158 one-dayers, refused to buy the argument that Amir was naive.

“In fact, to quote an incident, I was approached to find out why Amir had turned down a more-than-de­cent offer made to him by an Eng­lish county just a day before he was caught,” said Raja.

“During my conversation with him, I realised that because the offer was a few thousand pounds short of what he expected, he was willing to let go of an opportunity to play and establish himself at a renowned and historic county.

“I came to the conclusion he was not, after all, so gullible and naive about money matters,” he added.