Mohammad Amir retirement: The Pakistani fast bowler has expressed restraints at playing under the current team management.
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Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has distanced himself from international cricket after being left out of a 35-member squad for the tour of Pakistan. The 28-year old player has alleged the current team management of “mental torture” in a video posted by Pakistani journalist Shoaib Jatt on his Twitter handle.
“No, I am not going away from cricket. If you have seen the way the atmosphere over here and the way I have been sidelined, I got a wake-up call there when I was not selected in 35 boys. If I don’t get selected in 35-member squad, then it means to wake up call for me,” Amir is quoted as saying in the video.
Amir, who had retired from Test cricket last year and had last represented Pakistan in T20Is during their tour of England earlier this year, thanked former PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) Chairman Najam Sethi and former captain Shahid Afridi for their constant support around his international comeback in 2016.
As for the current regime, Amir expressed displeasure and believed it won’t be possible for him to play international cricket in contemporary times.
“I don’t think I can play under this management. As far as [international] cricket is concerned, I am leaving it because I am being mentally tortured. I don’t think I can tolerate this anymore. I have already seen a lot of torture from 2010 to 2015,” Amir said.
Mohammad Amir retirement
Here is Pakistani fast bowler @iamamirofficial announcing retirement from international cricket as protest against Pak team management’s behaviour. he was talking to me pic.twitter.com/TMC2LDEZHb
— Shoaib Jatt (@Shoaib_Jatt) December 17, 2020
Since Amir’s comeback in Test cricket in 2016, he is Pakistan’s third-highest wicket-taker with his 68 wickets in 22 Tests coming at an average and strike rate of 31.51 and 69.8 respectively. Much like Tests, Amir’s 56 wickets in 46 ODIs at an average of 32.14 and an economy rate of 4.85 makes his the third-highest wicket-taker for his national team in the same period.
Amir, whose first international match upon comeback was a T20I, maintains his third position in the shortest format as well with his 36 wickets in 32 appearances coming at an average of 22.38, an economy rate of 7.01 and a strike rate of 19.1.
Coming on the back of a stint for Galle Gladiators in the Lanka Premier League, Amir finished the season as the fifth-highest wicket-taker dismissing 11 batsmen in 10 matches at an average and economy rate of 26.72 and 7.73 respectively.
Other than LPL 2020, the left-arm bowler has also played in the T20 Blast, Bangladesh Premier League and the Pakistan Super League in the last year or so. Having most recently signed for Pune Devils in the Abu Dhabi T10 League, fans can expect Amir to continue playing as a freelance cricketer in league across the globe.
