Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan has expressed shock at the sudden retirement of star Pakistan left-arm fast bowler, Mohammad Amir.
Mohammad Amir sent shockwaves around the cricketing world after he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket at the ripe age of 28, citing ‘mental torture’ by the current team management.
Irfan Pathan, who recently locked horns with Amir in the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League [LPL], took to his official Twitter account where he wrote that having faced him in the T20 league, he can vouch for the fact that the southpaw has lots of cricket left in him besides wishing him well for the future.
”Just faced this guy @iamamirofficial in the recent concluded #Lpl must say lots of cricket left in him. Bowling well as ever. Wish him well for future #amirretires” Irfan Pathan wrote.
Just faced this guy @iamamirofficial in the recent concluded #Lpl must say lots of cricket left in him. Bowling well as ever. Wish him well for future #amirretires
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) December 17, 2020
Mohammad Amir, who had retired from Test cricket citing workload management issues in 2019, cited the mental harassment from the Pakistani team-management as the reason behind his decision.
Amir was overlooked from the 35-men squad for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand and for him, the omission was a major wake-up call for him; one that eventually triggered the decision to quit Pakistan cricket.
“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 35-member squad, then it means to wake up call for me,” Mohammad Amir said in a video shared by Pakistan journalist Shoaib Jatt.
“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,” he added.
Amir, the member of the 2009 T20 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy triumphs, represented Pakistan in a total of 147 international matches across formats, claiming 259 wickets.