"Was It The System Who Asked Babar Azam To Bench Fakhar Zaman?" Mohammad Amir Punches Pakistan Captain In The Face

Mohammad Amir threw scathing remarks at former PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja. Ramiz said that the system of Pakistan Cricket needs a make-over. Raja also backed Babar Azam to lead Pakistan in the near future.

“What is the system? It is not a wall. Five and six people have been given the responsibility of running Pakistan cricket. A captain is also one of them,” said Amir.

“In 1992 under Imran Khan, we won the World Cup, and the system was the same. In 1999 our team was a world-beater, who reached the finals. We won the 2009 T20 World Cup with the same system, we won the 2017 Champions Trophy under the same system,” he said.

Mohammad Amir gave England’s and Jos Buttler’s example and questioned whether England should change their system. England has had a terrible World Cup campaign, managing just three wins out of nine games.

“Babar has been captain for the past four years. He has built his team on his own. Buttler is not part of our system, so why did England play so badly? Does the system in England also need a makeover? After the 2015 debacle, Morgan said I want to play this brand of cricket, I want these 25 players. The system remained the same, it was the captain, who changed his mindset,” Amir said.

He went ahead to talk about England’s test struggles for the past two years when Joe Root was captain. Amir credited Ben Stokes for changing the team’s approach. He was of the opinion that the system can’t do anything if the Captain is not ready to change the approach and mindset.

“England were struggling in Test cricket for two years. Joe Root was the captain. The system is the same but we say England’s Test cricket has changed. It was Ben Stokes, who changed his approach. As long as the captain’s mindset will not change, the system can do nothing. Was it the system, who told him not to play Abrar Ahmad, or bench Fakhar after the first match,” said Amir.

Mohammad Amir Recalls When Younis Khan Fought For His Selection

Mohammad Amir recalled when captain Younis Khan fought for his inclusion in the ICC T20 World Cup 2009. He was being ignored by the selectors because of his inexperience.

“I was not getting picked. Captain Younis Khan fought for me. The chief selector said no he is young and inexperienced, but the captain kept fighting for me,” he said.

Mohammad Amir also recalled, that during the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy final former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Khan fought with coach Mickey Arthur to play him ahead of Rumman Raees who did a good job in the semi-finals.

“I missed the semifinal due to back spasms. Rumman Raees played and did well. In the final, Saifi bhai said no Amir is our main bowler, he is fit and he will play the final,” said Amir.

Mohammad Amir also criticised Pakistan’s selection committee for choosing players for ODIs on the basis of their performance in T20Is. Pakistan had players like Usama Mir, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan who are good in T20Is.

“99% team is built on T20 performances. Usama Mir, Shaheen Shah, Haris Rauf, Shadab Khan are T20 bowlers,” said Amir.

Mohammad Amir also praised former India captain MS Dhoni, who played a pivotal role in the development of Ravindra Jadeja through the years. Ravindra Jadeja was always backed by MS Dhoni and today he is considered one of the greatest all-rounders in the World.

“We say Dhoni changed India’s cricket, but he never changed the system. People kept saying that for how long he kept giving Jadeja and Ashwin chances. And now we say Jadeja is the World’s best all-rounder. MS Dhoni has given them the team,” said Amir.

Pakistan Cricket will see a lot of major changes in their system and the speculations of a shift in captaincy is also a possibility after Pakistan’s poor show in the World Cup. Babar Azam has talked about his captaincy with Ramiz Raja but the latter refused to share the conversation as it was private and he did not wish to make it public.