Disheartened Amir bids farewell to int’l cricket

LAHORE   –  The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed that speedster Mohammad Amir has communicated his decision to move away from international cricket.

PCB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Wasim Khan spoke with Muhammad Amir on Thursday afternoon following reports that the fast bowler had announced his retirement from international cricket, said a PCB spokesman here. The 29-year-old bowler confirmed to the PCB chief executive that he has no desires or intensions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches. “This is a personal decision of Muhammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage,” he said. 

The left-arm pacer had retired from Test cricket in mid-2019 stating that he wanted to focus on white-ball cricket. At the time, he had cited that he wanted to ‘manage workload’ to extend his career. Amir had said back in 2019: “Cricket is different since 2010 and if you look back I have lost five precious years of my career. Just imagine had I played in all those years, the count could have been 70-80 Tests. I can’t roll back that lost time but I can manage my workload to extend my career as much as I can. 

“With every passing day I’m getting older and I know fans want me to play. But if you look rationally I’m human and not an iron man. My passion is still there and I want to be there for fans, serving the country for a long time.” Upon his return for Pakistan, following a five-year ban for spot fixing, Amir played a starring role in his country’s win in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, snaring 3/16 in the tournament final against India in London. 

The pacer was central to Pakistan’s bowling attack across formats till 2019 when he called time on his Test career. The 28-year-old has played a few ODIs and T20Is since then, but has been more active in franchise cricket. Earlier this year, Amir had been left out of the central contract list. However, he played the T20I series in England when cricket resumed inside the bio-bubble.