In a sad yet not so shocking new development, Pakistan’s favorite pacer, Mohammad Amir has retired from international cricket. This exceptional talent had to take this step after he was mistreated by the current management continuously.
Being snubbed by Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis consistently has led this young and very talented Pakistani player to take an early retirement, which is heart breaking for every cricket fan in the world, but especially for Pakistani fans. PCB has confirmed that Mohammad Amir retired from international cricket and will no longer be a part of the team.
Mohammad Amir Retired from International Cricket
Mohammad Amir represented Pakistan in 50 T20Is, 61 ODIs and 36 Tests and has also played in PSL and the latest Lanka Premier League (in which his team Galle Gladiators were runner ups). Chief Executive of Pakistan Cricket Board PCB spoke with Amir Khan after he announced his retirement from international cricket.
During the discussion, the 29 year old super star fast bowler let the Chief Executive of PC know that he has no desire to play international cricket and the PCB should not consider him for any international matches. In a statement released by PCB, it says, “This is a personal decision of Mohammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage.”
It didn’t go out of notice that PCB has not thanked Amir for his tremendous performance over the years and how he has been an absolute asset and gem for the team. Several of the matches were won because of his excellent performance, which is also something that PCB failed to recognize.
Amir has frequently claimed that he was deliberately sidelined by the current management and is “mentally tortured” by the management.
In his statement, Mohammad Amir said:
“I am leaving cricket for now because I’m being mentally tortured. I don’t think I can bear such torture. I’ve borne lots of torture from 2010 to 2015, for which I served my time. I’ve been tortured by being told the PCB invested a lot in me. I’ll just say two people invested in me a lot: [former PCB chairman] Najam Sethi and [former Pakistan captain] Shahid Afridi.”
“They were the only two. The rest of the team was saying we don’t want to play with Amir. Recently, the atmosphere that’s been created means I get taunted all the time by being told I don’t want to play for my country. Who doesn’t want to play for their country? I was told that because I play for various leagues, I’m not committed to Pakistan. My comeback started from the Bangladesh Premier League [in 2015]. If I was dying to play in leagues, I would have decided that there and then.”
Mohammad Amir also said, “I got my wake-up call when I wasn’t named in the 35-man squad. That made me realise I need to focus on my future plans. Every two months, someone says something against me. Sometimes the bowling coach [Waqar Younis] says Amir ditched us, sometimes I’m told my workload is unsatisfactory. Enough is enough.”
Last time Amir represented Pakistan in an international match, was a T20I series in England in August, 2020. Mohammad Amir closes his international cricket career statistics with 59 T20Is wickets, 81 ODIs wickets and 119 wickets, which brings his grand total down to 259 wickets.