Lahore: Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir has announced his retirement from international on Thursday (December 17) stating he was being ‘mentally tortured’ and wasn’t being treated well by the senior national team management.
The left-arm pacer, who has quit Tests in June 2019 over workload issues, said he doesn’t want to play under the current Pakistan team management. Amir pointed out that he got a ‘wake up call’ when he was left out of the Pakistan squad for the ongoing limited-overs series in New Zealand.
“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 the 35-member squad, then it means to wake up call for me,” the 28-year-old said in a video shared by a Pakistani journalist on social media.
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
“I don’t think I can play cricket under this management. I think I should leave cricket this time. I am being tortured mentally. I don’t think I can tolerate any more torture now. I have seen a lot of torture from 2010 to 2015. I was away from the game and sentenced for my mistake. 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,” Amir said.
“I am being tortured again and again that PCB invested in me. I still give credit to the two people from PCB. I returned after completing the sentence of five years. Not that I returned after a year. Sethi Sahab and Shahid Afridi were the two people whom I will thank forever. Both of them supported me at a tough time. The rest of the team said that we will not play with Mohammad Amir,” he added.
Amir made his international debut for Pakistan as a 17-year-old in 2009. So far Amir played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 50 ODIs for Pakistan. He went on to take 259 wickets across three formats of the game.
After a sparkling start even in the Test format, his career went downhill after he was found guilty of spot-fixing and was banned for five years. He made his international comeback in 2015 and went on to play an instrumental role in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy triumph of 2017. He was also the side’s leading wicket-taker at the 2019 World Cup where Pakistan failed to qualify for the semifinals despite wins over both of the eventual finalists, England and New Zealand, at the group stage
