It was reminiscent of the Oscar-nominated movie The Revenant. Pakistan's Mohammad Amir played Leonardo de Caprio, almost lost to cricket after the spot-fixing episode. Once the ban was lifted, Amir is on a comeback trail, trying to make up for the lost five years.

It couldn't have been a better stage than an Indo-Pak game in the Asia Cup. Pakistan's misguided missiles in batting flopped and defending a paltry total of 83 they needed wickets upfront. It was Amir (in pic) who turned a seemingly one-sided match on its head with three wickets in his first two overs.

But then Amir ran into a master batsman Virat Kohli, who adapted to the needs of the Mirpur pitch and batted with a 'switched-on' mind. The duel between Amir and Kohli lasted 15 deliveries but it proved how the battles are won.

After the match, Kohli showered praise on Amir. "I would like to congratulate Amir for the way he bowled; I actually congratulated him while he was bowling. It was amazing to play such a spell. I said this before; he is a world class bowler."

Amir said Kohli's praise made his day. It was generous of him what he said for me," Amir told Mirror. "It's the sort of encouragement that you need and when it comes from a super star like Virat, it means a lot. On the other hand, it's a big challenge for me as well because it adds to my responsibility to prove that I am worth that praise.

Even before the match, he used some good words for me. It was very kind of him."

Amir said Rohit Sharma's wicket was big. "I watched him bat in Australia where he scored a lot of runs so it was important to get him early. I thought I had him first ball but it was given not out. The next delivery was perfectly pitched and I got him. Shahid bhai (Afridi) came to me and said that it is a big wicket. Then I had (Ajinkiya) Rahane and it doubled our joy. Next over I had Suresh Raina and before that I came close to dismiss Virat. We would have been in a strong position had that been given out."

But Kohli batted with resolve, releasing the pressure with two boundaries off Amir. "That proved that he is a world class player. He read the situation well and scored runs gradually and didn't panic at all. An ordinary player would have succumbed to that pressure, but not Virat."

He continued, "It was unfortunate that we didn't have too many runs to play for. Had we got 110, it would have been our match but I am very happy that my performance helped us avoid a one-sided defeat. In fact we gave a scare to India."

Courtesy Bangalore Times