Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has expressed discontent with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s treatment of Mohammad Amir. The 30-year-old announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020 but now has an outside chance to make a surprise return to the Pakistan team.
Amir had expressed countless concerns regarding the former PCB chief Ramiz Raja and hence took the decision to retire. But after the change in regime, Najam Sethi, the new PCB head, announced Amir could get a chance to come back if he decides to take his retirement back.
Hence Akhtar, while talking on Saad Sports' YouTube channel, expressed his thoughts on how the board has handled this situation. He talked about how the move doesn’t sit well with him and called out the previous regime for its shortcomings.
Akhtar said, “PCB calling Mohammad Amir and asking do you want to play, in my opinion, this is not the right approach. We were also dropped in the past, and the PCB management was angry with me for almost 12 years, but this doesn't mean that I should quit. Instead, we should think about what are Pakistan's requirements, this was his mistake.”
But further in the interview, Shoaib Akhtar also criticised Amir for his behavior towards the board. Akhtar called out the pacer for bickering about working on himself and stated that he was just paying for the mistakes he committed in the past (Spot Fixing Scandal in 2010).
“He goes and says in interviews that he invested himself in cricket, but he has been punished as well in the past. Well, you did something wrong, hence you were punished. You didn't do a favour to Pakistan cricket. You had to repay what the country gave you, the country was expecting that from you.
Akthar also spoke on how Amir wasn’t playing well barring the Champions Trophy and hence dropped from the side. He said, "Until 2017 he had okay kind of performances, which were followed by a brilliant show in the Champions Trophy. However, after that, there was hardly anything standard in the next 15-20 ODIs.”
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