Mohammad Amir reveals the reason behind announcing his international retirement at 28

Former Pakistani premier pacer Mohammad Amir opened up on the reason as to why he chose to retire from international cricket at the age of 28. On Thursday, the left-arm seamer had said that he does not think he can work with the current team management and it is best for him to leave. 

'The issue started when...': Mohammad Amir

"The issue started when I announced my retirement from Test cricket. All was fine after the 2019 World Cup, then-coach Mickey Arthur was fine with it and he understood the decision. However, some members in the PCB management once they took charge selected me for white-ball leg, and we even went to Australia, but when Pakistan lost the Test series there, the head coach and bowling coach started giving statements against me not playing Tests, some PCB management members said that Amir ditched us, they said I left Test cricket for T20 leagues. I was handling it for one year," said Amir on his official YouTube channel.

"I never said that I would not play ODIs and T20Is for Pakistan just because of T20 leagues, these members of PCB management kept on saying that I left Tests for T20 leagues and this proved crucial in destroying my image and people started talking about it. I am not weak, if I was I would have never been able to make a comeback after 2010. I do not have issues with Wasim Khan (CEO) and Ehsan Mani (Chairman), I just have a problem with the current PCB management who is dealing with the players," he added.

"I wish the PCB management understood why I left Test cricket, I never left it for playing T20 leagues, it just frustrated me as to why the management kept on talking about me leaving Test cricket for T20 leagues. I have always wanted to play for Pakistan, I was available for two formats," the Pak frontline speedster further added.

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Mohammad Amir's cricketing career

Amir has represented Pakistan in 36 Tests where he picked up 119 scalps in his 10-year Test career from 2009-2019. The left-arm pacer has also represented the Men In Green in 61 One Day Internationals and 48 T20Is where he has picked up 81 and 59 wickets respectively. 

The premier quickie had announced his retirement from red-ball cricket at the age of 27 after which he had faced a lot of criticism from his countrymen as well as legendary pacers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar. His most memorable performance was picking up three important wickets in the ICC Champions Trophy final against arch-rivals India where his opening spell proved to be too much for the Indian batsmen to handle in that summit clash.

Chasing a huge target of 339 to retain their title, the Men In Blue's top-order including the likes of Rohit Sharma, skipper Virat Kohli, and Shikhar Dhawan were sent back to the pavilion early on as India never recovered from the initial setback and were eventually bundled out for 158. Pakistan registered a mammoth 180-run win to win their maiden CT title. 

(With ANI Inputs)

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