Mohammad Hafeez Reveals Conversations With Mohammad Amir, Imad Wasim On Return To International Cricket

PCB Director of Cricket Mohammad Hafeez recently announced Pakistan’s Test side for the three-match series against Australia down under. The Men in Green will be playing the World Champions in a Test series that will be part of the WTC 2023-25 cycle.

He addressed a press conference and spoke about a few burning topics in Pakistan cricket. The debate about Mohammad Amir’s early retirement has been a topic of discussion. Now Imad Wasim too announced his retirement after he was not a part of the Pakistan ODI World Cup squad.

Imad announced his international retirement on November 24, 2023, after playing 55 ODIs, and 66 T20Is for the national team. His decision to retire came as a shock to many former Pakistan cricketers.

Mohammad Hafeez Shares Anecdotes Of Conversation With Amir & Imad

Hafeez while addressing the press conference said that he spoke to both Imad and Amir and requested them to consider coming out of retirement but all went in vain. Hafeez revealed how he requested Amir to play domestic cricket to keep himself in the race for national selection.

'I called Mohammad Amir personally too. I asked him to play domestic cricket and prove his performances if he wanted to play for Pakistan again. I assured him of equal opportunities like other players, but he said he had moved on and didn't want to play for Pakistan again. He… pic.twitter.com/PZnhj9qEef

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) November 28, 2023

‘I called Mohammad Amir personally too. I asked him to play domestic cricket and prove his performance if he wanted to play for Pakistan again. Assured him of equal opportunities like other players, but he said he had moved on and didn’t want to play for Pakistan again. He told me he sees his future in international leagues now” Hafeez said on Amir.

He next revealed his conversation with the just-retired Imad Wasim. Hafeez said that Imad told him that he was unavailable for the New Zealand T20I series and a couple of days later he announced his international retirement.

Also Read: PCB To Punish Haris Rauf For Opting Out Of Australia Tests: Reports

‘Imad Wasim had not signed the central contract so I phoned him, and he asked for more time. After two days, he called me and said he is not available for New Zealand T20I series even tho I told him he was in our plans. And then he announced his retirement after some more time” said the PCB Director of cricket.

Post the World Cup, the PCB has made many changes to its management and captaincy. Shan Masood was named as the new Test captain and Shaheen Afridi the T20I captain after Babar decided to step down as captain across formats. Wahab Riaz was named as the PCB Chairman while Mohammad Hafeez the Team Director.