On Thursday, the fiery Pakistan fast bowler, Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from international cricket. He said that he does not think he can work with the current Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management and he would prefer to leave the board. He has promised a full statement soon.
In a viral video on Social Media, Amir was heard saying, “To be honest, I don’t think I can play cricket under this management, I am leaving cricket, for now, I am being mentally tortured, I cannot handle it, I have seen it enough from 2010-2015. I have to repeatedly hear that PCB invested a lot in me, I am thankful to Shahid Afridi as he gave me chances when I came back after the ban.”
He further elaborated, “Everyone wants to play for their country, they just keep saying that I left Test cricket for other leagues around the world, I made the comeback through BPL, if I was dying for leagues then I could have said I don’t want to play for Pakistan. Every month there is someone who is saying Amir ditched us. In two days I will reach Pakistan and then I will release a statement.”
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Although in the video, Mohammad Amir can be seen as announcing him quitting international cricket and he will make an official statement after reaching Pakistan and speaking to his family, Pakistan media house Samaa.tv reported that Amir has indeed announced his retirement from international cricket.
The Pakistan fast bowler had played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 50 ODIs. Amir went on to take 259 wickets across three formats of the game. Amir made his international debut during the 2009 T20 World Cup and he was a part of the T20 World Cup-winning Pakistan squad. Later in the same year, he went on to make his debut in ODI and Test cricket.
We don’t want to lose another Gem in 2020 💔
Cricket Board must stay in limits. It’s time to support #MohammadAmir. Let’s raise your voice if you want to see Amir back. The reason Pakistan don’t progress is that we don’t honour the Talent. RIP PCB..!@iamamirofficial pic.twitter.com/zVpSf9TCdj— Hasaan Bin Ihsan (@IamHBI) December 17, 2020
However, a big turning point came in 2010 as Amir was arrested for spot-fixing and he was eventually banned by five years for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal. In 2015, it was announced that Amir would be allowed to make an early return to domestic cricket. He then returned to play for Pakistan on their tour of New Zealand in 2016.
Speaking to ANI earlier this month, Mohammad Amir revealed that he spent most of his time training during the lockdown to remain in the best possible shape.
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Amir had earlier said, “Yes, the time has been tough for people and sports took a backseat for a while during the lockdown. As a professional cricketer, I did whatever I could, in a limited capacity, to keep myself fit and it also gave me time to think about my game. But things have slowly started to move on, and here we are at the Lanka Premier League today. It is a new league, happening under some really challenging circumstances.”
