It has not come to me as a surprise nor it has to others who follow Pakistan cricket and have experienced in the past a similar form of dissent and show their disapproval that sparked yet another controversy a couple of days ago when Mohammad Hafeez and Azhar Ali walked off the training camp, protesting against the inclusion of a tainted colleague Mohammad Amir.

I do not blame them for doing that because as independent individuals they have the right to speak their mind and express their personal feelings about how they felt about it.

It was, indeed, one of the most embarrassing moments no doubt for all of us and for the whole nation to see Amir and his captain Salman Butt and pacer Mohammad Asif degrade themselves to disgrace us all and made us bow our heads in shame during the 2010 Lord’s Test.

I know how the team felt about the whole thing and how I, as a journalist covering the Test and the spot-fixing shame, had to take the taunt of the rest of my colleagues in the press box who kept questioning me about the integrity of the whole team touring England.

With the passage of time, however, I have recovered from that trauma which had for some years clouded my mind and my trust in some members of our cricket team.

I am glad that those involved were taken to task and punished for what they did to insult their talent and hurt people’s feelings.

In Amir’s case it surely was tragic to get into the trap and fall for a petty sum of money which at the time may have meant something very big for him. Not realising the fact that if he had not done it, he would have been a lot richer than many who are playing the game today.

The feeling of betrayal by the three players involved in the spot-fixing saga, however, still remain very strong and understandable.

Bringing them back into the fold does remain a matter of debate with people in favour and against it.

I too have strongly felt about it over the years but have reconciled myself with the fact that in life you do falter at times and make horrendous mistakes, misjudge situations and suffer for it.

‘To err is human and to forgive divine’ and I feel that it is important to have remorse and also compassion for those who have committed misdeeds, or a crime.

Therefore, I am not alone in sympathizing with Amir whose youth and ignorance about life dragged him into what he did.

He pleaded guilty and got punished for it while his colleagues, who maintained their stance of being innocent, served extended punishment.

Amir, therefore, deserves compassion because age is on his side and his talent does not seem have to have faded as one would have expected.

Therefore, we need to be compassionate when treating his case to give him an opportunity to redress his ways and life.

We have examples with us of the players who after being banned and punished were brought back after serving their time. Amir’s case is no different.

We have seen players and nearly the entire team rebel against their own country to join Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket in the seventies.

They were branded as traitors then but they made a comeback too and wore their national cap again.

Hafeez and Azhar are not the first players in Pakistan to lodge their protest for something they believe is not right.

However, I am glad that they have listened to the request made to them to rejoin the camp and that is sensible.

Player-power does not help and it should never be encouraged. In 1976 Hafeez Kardar - the then chief of the board - had called up a lot of youngsters to replace the Mushtaq Mohammad-led Pakistan team who had refused to play against New Zealand in a Test at Hyderabad over demands of a higher salary.

Kardar put his foot down and told the team that this will not work and he would play another team. The players surrendered.

Air Marshal Nur Khan did the same to the rebels in the 1982 Test against Sri Lanka when more than half the team declined to play under Javed Miandad.

He threw the rebels in the dump to play a new set of players who won the Test and the series. The rebels in the end had to bow down and were brought back.

Player-power, we have not forgotten, also resulted in forfeiture of a Test in 2006 at The Oval and that was a disgrace.

Hafeez and Azhar have a lot more years ahead for them to represent the national team. Being a rebel would not help.

That they have decided to join the camp again, after having made their point, is a welcome decision. I personally feel that they should concentrate more on their cricket than things outside it.

They should be a lot more rational in their approach rather than joining the bandwagon of protesters in Amir’s case.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2015