Picture Credit: Twitter
One of the greatest enigmas of world cricket is retired international cricketer from Pakistan, Mohammad Amir. When on top of his game, he could make the ball do all the talking. It was a shame that a bowler of his caliber received a ban from playing any form of professional cricket after his involvement in the infamous spot fixing scandal. Although he returned after serving his ban, he later announced his retirement from international cricket well before the age of 30 owing to differences with the top level team management.
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has now urged the left-arm pacer to show "maturity" and sort out the differences with the Pakistan team management. Akhtar said that this way Amir can easily make a comeback for Pakistan team. Amir had announced his retirement from international cricket in December last year but continues to feature in T20 leagues around the world.
"Amir should have realized that 'papa' Mickey Arthur will not always be there to safeguard him and he has to now grow up," Akhtar told PTV.
"You must be matured enough to realise that the management is not going to act according to my wishes. Therefore now I have to raise my performance and level of hard work," he said.
Amir should learn from Hafeez: Akhtar
Akhtar even cited the example of senior batsman Mohammad Hafeez outlining that the management at one point was against him but they had no other choice but to select him as he had scored a mountain of runs.
"The management was also against Hafeez. But he just made runs and nothing else. He didn't give the management an envelope full of cash. Amir should learn that from Hafeez," he added.
PCB did a favour to Amir by bringing him back, says the Rawalpindi Express
Akhtar even reminded that Amir should in fact be grateful to the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) who allowed him a chance at the biggest stage after his ban ended.
"This is a favor the PCB did for Amir. To his credit, Amir won some crucial matches for Pakistan in the Champions Trophy which included the final but after that his performances deteriorated, " he said.
The Rawalpindi Express then sided with head coach Misbah-ul-Haq who had said that Amir's pace had dropped.
"Misbah is right when he says that Amir's pace has gone down. There is nothing wrong with that assessment," he said.