Mohammad Amir announces retirement from Test cricket

[aloo paratha]

he can keep getting 6 fors in BPL, but I never wanna see him in a Pakistan shirt again.

 

[MenInG]

Kaneria taking a swipe at Mohammad Amir in an interview

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) supported Mohammad Amir but when we needed him in Test cricket, he retired and started focusing on league cricket"

“Playing for Pakistan is not important for him but league cricket is.”

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Rare photos of Mohammad Amir aged 16 on the Pakistan Academy tour of Kenya in 2008 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a> <a href="https://t.co/ZqZaru4NNs">pic.twitter.com/ZqZaru4NNs</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1277236445309276161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Titan24]

Amir's National T20 2020 stats:

7 matches - 6 wickets - Avg 38 - Eco 8.73

 

[Saj]

Amir's National T20 2020 stats:

7 matches - 6 wickets - Avg 38 - Eco 8.73

He won't be pleased with those numbers.

Whilst they weren't terrible, you'd expect a few more wickets from him.

 

[MenInG]

He won't be pleased with those numbers.

Whilst they weren't terrible, you'd expect a few more wickets from him.

Question is - did he try hard enough?

 

[Titan24]

He won't be pleased with those numbers.

Whilst they weren't terrible, you'd expect a few more wickets from him.

More than the numbers would have liked to see bit more zip which he has been lacking for sometime. His presence was never felt in the tournament or for his team.

 

[shamaan]

Hes not good enough anymore hes declining as time goes past he hasnt taken many wickets and is going at 8.7

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

He wont be picked for Pakistan now, unless he rediscovers himself.

 

[Varun]

He wont be picked for Pakistan now, unless he rediscovers himself.

Dropped from the Zimbabwe squad.

The 30-averaging fraud has been discovered for what he is, a decade too late.

 

[Savak]

Shaheen Afridi performs like a seasoned veteran who is a consistent reliable spearhead of the attack whereas Amir performs like a debutant

 

[Shafi]

Unfortunately Amir is finished and he is also lack of motivation to play for Pakistan. PCB should give him NOC so he can play franchise leagues and earn money without putting any effort.
Totally disappointed!!!!!!!

 

[Muhammad Saad]

Lack of heart and desire in such a young age.

 

[Varun]

Unfortunately Amir is finished and he is also lack of motivation to play for Pakistan. PCB should give him NOC so he can play franchise leagues and earn money without putting any effort.
Totally disappointed!!!!!!!

Pity no franchise worth its salt would pick him either. What's so great about him with his strike rate of 1 wicket every 3.2 overs and a RR upwards of 7.

 

[Mueez]

He’s done and dusted.

His story is finished.

 

[Theo_14]

He sold his soul in 2010 for what? Absolutely nothing.

 

[MenInG]

Misbah-ul-Haq on Amir and Shinwari

We have followed the same philosophy while leaving out Mohammad Amir and Usman Shinwari so that bowlers like Mohammad Hasnain, Musa Khan and Haris Rauf can get an extended run.

 

[silentkiller187]

Amir's time is done i am afraid, those years spent in the wilderness when he should have been getting the cricket under his belt to become a superstar ultimately cost him. Was never the same bowler after the return, i think he knew he would be dropped soon which is why he jumped, and retired from test cricket. Could potentially do a job from time to time in a t20 game but even then his days are numbered, might get lucky to be picked up in these dubai t10 or BPL leagues, sad end to what could have been.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Dropped from the Zimbabwe squad.

The 30-averaging fraud has been discovered for what he is, a decade too late.

Nothing has been discovered. He has won us multiple tournaments and his stint with the national team (both before and after the ban) was fantastic. All good things must come to an end, though. His body has given up on him. Nothing can be done about that.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Have been treated like a prima donna for far too long.
The good thing is the ball isn't in his court now.
Unless he works harder and improves, he probably won't make it.

The question is,"Is he going to try harder and admit his shortcomings for a change?" rather than blaming the long lay off from cricket 10 years back and stuff.

The place in team should never be considered a right for any player regardless of how good he has been.

Shaheen hopefully, if remains fit would do the job of leading the attack well. He has also taken a likening for yorkers too.

 

[Varun]

Nothing has been discovered. He has won us multiple tournaments and his stint with the national team (both before and after the ban) was fantastic. All good things must come to an end, though. His body has given up on him. Nothing can be done about that.

What was there to give up on, after spending half a decade out of the sport and being found out a year into his return at the ripe age of 26?

Irfan Pathan had a more wholesome career than this, minus the drama.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

What was there to give up on, after spending half a decade out of the sport and being found out a year into his return at the ripe age of 26?

Irfan Pathan had a more wholesome career than this, minus the drama.

It wasn’t that there was nothing to give up on after half a decade away. His body gave up on him because of the half a decade away. Despite that, he demolished India’s top order in the CT17 final in what I believe is one of the most memorable spells by any bowler from any country this decade.

He had a successful return to Lords and Pakistan tied the 2018 Test Series, and his heroics with the ball were notable in Pakistan’s 2019 World Cup - no other bowler invoked as much hope in Pakistanis to salvage our campaign.

Even in unsuccessful campaigns, he demolished India’s top order during the Asia Cup, despite being half the bowler he used to be.

Before his ban, his opening over in the 2009 T20 final against Sri Lanka won us the match, while there are countless other memorable spells by him during that tournament and in Tests too (unfortunately, one was a little too memorable).

I believe Amir will go down as a Pakistan Great, and though I respect Irfan Pathan a lot, I would love to see Pathan get Kohli out twice in two consecutive balls. That’s all.

End of a beautiful career - I hope fans give him the respect he deserves.

 

[silentkiller187]

What was there to give up on, after spending half a decade out of the sport and being found out a year into his return at the ripe age of 26?

Irfan Pathan had a more wholesome career than this, minus the drama.

Returned at the age of 26 , thrown straight into international cricket, no matter what gyms he went to in those 5 years in exile, he cannot replicate the game at the international level, everyone's bodies react differently , the work you do in your younger years set you up for the future, he missed the most important time in his development for obvious reasons, so with that said i would take the performance in the CT17 against india and wish him all the best, shame it didnt work out as we would have hoped.

 

[TrentDevil]

Time to retire from LOIs as well

 

[tyron_woodley]

It wasn’t that there was nothing to give up on after half a decade away. His body gave up on him because of the half a decade away. Despite that, he demolished India’s top order in the CT17 final in what I believe is one of the most memorable spells by any bowler from any country this decade.

He had a successful return to Lords and Pakistan tied the 2018 Test Series, and his heroics with the ball were notable in Pakistan’s 2019 World Cup - no other bowler invoked as much hope in Pakistanis to salvage our campaign.

Even in unsuccessful campaigns, he demolished India’s top order during the Asia Cup, despite being half the bowler he used to be.

Before his ban, his opening over in the 2009 T20 final against Sri Lanka won us the match, while there are countless other memorable spells by him during that tournament and in Tests too (unfortunately, one was a little too memorable).

I believe Amir will go down as a Pakistan Great, and though I respect Irfan Pathan a lot, I would love to see Pathan get Kohli out twice in two consecutive balls. That’s all.

End of a beautiful career - I hope fans give him the respect he deserves.

It's a matchup issues. India hs problems vs left handed bowlers who can swing both ways.

other top teams have different weaknesses like England can't play bounce or proper spin. Australia can't play well on turning pitches etc.

Amir is a special bowler but his bowling won't be as effective vs other teams because their strengths negate his strengths.

 

[aloo paratha]

Nothing has been discovered. He has won us multiple tournaments and his stint with the national team (both before and after the ban) was fantastic. All good things must come to an end, though. His body has given up on him. Nothing can be done about that.

His stint post ban was fantastic? You must be joking. He's been mediocre since 2017.

 

[Savak]

Amir's time is done i am afraid, those years spent in the wilderness when he should have been getting the cricket under his belt to become a superstar ultimately cost him. Was never the same bowler after the return, i think he knew he would be dropped soon which is why he jumped, and retired from test cricket. Could potentially do a job from time to time in a t20 game but even then his days are numbered, might get lucky to be picked up in these dubai t10 or BPL leagues, sad end to what could have been.

I beg to differ that he wasn't the same bowler, he was showing glimpses of his previous world class form in the 2015 BPL, 2016 PSL, 2016 NZ Tour, 2016 T-20 Asia Cup, 2016 T-20 WC and in some patches of the England series.

However midway through the England T-20 series onwards, his pace and swing completely fell away, his action also started to suffer as the strain of playing and bowling so many overs caught up with him. The PCB should definitely have monitored his workload but he also didn't perform well enough to convince the PCB to give him much importance. He also looked completely toothless and useless in the UAE and your lack of quality gets exposed in the long run.

PCB will lose nothing by moving on from him TBH

 

[Savak]

IK lost three years of his career as a bowler during his peak years with his shin injuries from 1982 to 1985. He knew he was going to be back playing as a bowler and he returned showing the same form and quality from 1985 to 1987.

Amir knew that the fans and the PCB were lobbying very hard with the ICC to get him back into contention for Pakistan. He went to the Juvenille centre in 2011 and came out in 2012, i assume he had access to a gym over there. When he came out he had 3 years and he was playing low grade cricket at the start of 2015. He had a good 5 years to keep up his gym work and looking after his body. In fact it can be argued that the 5 years he spent out of the game potentially saved him from a career threatening injury as fast bowler's physiques and body's tend to get strongest from their early to mid 20's onwards. Look at Pat Cummins, he was extremely injury prone early on in his career but his body became more resilient towards the demands of modern bowling workloads from his mid 20's onwards.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

His stint post ban was fantastic? You must be joking. He's been mediocre since 2017.

Say what you want, he’s turned up when it mattered. Like I said, his CT17 final bowling spell is one of the greatest spells of the decade, and one of the best ever by any bowler in any tournament final. It will be remembered in Pakistan for many years, the same way Wasim’s two magic deliveries were.

 

[aloo paratha]

Say what you want, he’s turned up when it mattered. Like I said, his CT17 final bowling spell is one of the greatest spells of the decade, and one of the best ever by any bowler in any tournament final. It will be remembered in Pakistan for many years, the same way Wasim’s two magic deliveries were.

So 1 spell in 4 years is enough to make his post ban stint fantastic?

 

[Thunderbolt14]

So 1 spell in 4 years is enough to make his post ban stint fantastic?

2016, 2018 tests against England. 2017 CT. 2019 ODI WC. T20 Asia Cup against India.
No doubt he is half the bowler he used to be, but yes, his post ban stint has been worth it. Champion bowler.

Now time to retire.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

Amir is 37 years old I think.

 

[aloo paratha]

2016, 2018 tests against England. 2017 CT. 2019 ODI WC. T20 Asia Cup against India.
No doubt he is half the bowler he used to be, but yes, his post ban stint has been worth it. Champion bowler.

Now time to retire.

2016 tests were nothing special, 2018 Lords test was literally one match where he did well. In CT 2017 he took 5 wickets in 4 games, hardly stuff of a "Champion bowler". 2019 WC performance was nothing special either, got one 5fer (his first and only in ODIs), his bowling early on in the tournament was decent but then he went back to his old mediocre self for the next half of the tournament.

Real champion bowlers are Starc, Boult, Bumrah, Rabada etc. Amir isn't fit to tie their boots.

 

[Shazzam]

Never rated him. He always just looked good.

 

[trickyone]

His real age is catching up to him, time for new guns to shine.

 

[naseem]

He is 26...27.....not 37 or 40 .....he is just not focussed and motivated like before......hope he will.....but now no place 4 him in Pak national team

 

[Loralai]

Time to move on from this has-been now. PCB and Pakistani fans have invested enough time in Amir for next to no reward. You can't keep coasting on just one spell (CT-17 final).

 

[silentkiller187]

I beg to differ that he wasn't the same bowler, he was showing glimpses of his previous world class form in the 2015 BPL, 2016 PSL, 2016 NZ Tour, 2016 T-20 Asia Cup, 2016 T-20 WC and in some patches of the England series.

However midway through the England T-20 series onwards, his pace and swing completely fell away, his action also started to suffer as the strain of playing and bowling so many overs caught up with him. The PCB should definitely have monitored his workload but he also didn't perform well enough to convince the PCB to give him much importance. He also looked completely toothless and useless in the UAE and your lack of quality gets exposed in the long run.

PCB will lose nothing by moving on from him TBH

He showed glimpses but nothing more, when your 17/18 glimpses are good but when your leading an attack you need consistency, for whatever reason post ban he didn’t seem to interested, didn’t want to put in the work, and took the easy routes, ultimately lead to his demise, also as some posters have pointed out I think he may be a few years older than his official age.

 

[Saj]

Well it seems that the PCB didn't tell him he was going to be overlooked for the Zimbabwe series.

 

[shamaan]

Say what you want, he’s turned up when it mattered. Like I said, his CT17 final bowling spell is one of the greatest spells of the decade, and one of the best ever by any bowler in any tournament final. It will be remembered in Pakistan for many years, the same way Wasim’s two magic deliveries were.

Am glad hes been dropped from the limited overs series orts now see if hes going to work hard which I dont think he will the fame got to his head he should concentrate on doesmtic and foreign leagues

 

[shamaan]

Very good decision by misbah to drop amir hes not fit enough and is wasting a spot in the squad the fame got to his head

 

[shamaan]

Amir is 37 years old I think.

He bowls like hes 40

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Well it seems that the PCB didn't tell him he was going to be overlooked for the Zimbabwe series.

What did he expect? He has already retired from tests, complaining about his workload. On his return to the format of his choice, he still looked underpar and got injured.
Then he had no presence in the t20 cup whatsover.

So Saj, since you have access to him; can you not ask him on what his plan of direction is? Because from what I can see, his bowling has lost all potency; there is no pace, no zip, the action is weak and so is his body.
If he doesn't change his approach towards training, he is a gone case.

Persuade him to please consult a specialist to rediscover himself.
He needs to take time off and work on his issues from the ground-up.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

What did he expect? He has already retired from tests, complaining about his workload. On his return to the format of his choice, he still looked underpar and got injured.
Then he had no presence in the t20 cup whatsover.

So Saj, since you have access to him; can you not ask him on what his plan of direction is? Because from what I can see, his bowling has lost all potency; there is no pace, no zip, the action is weak and so is his body.
If he doesn't change his approach towards training, he is a gone case.

Persuade him to please consult a specialist to rediscover himself.
He needs to take time off and work on his issues from the ground-up.

Agreed, I will be the first to say he deserves a shot if he regains form. Right now he doesn’t have it.

 

[Muddaser]

Serves him right.

This guy retired gave up the chance of playing 5 day cricket for his country yet was fine playing 4 day cricket in counties.

This after being given a second chance for selling his country out for a few thousand pounds.

 

[Varun]

Well it seems that the PCB didn't tell him he was going to be overlooked for the Zimbabwe series.

Well played. It's not like he gave the PCB much warning by pulling the plug on test cricket either, after all that they'd done for him.

 

[hitthestump]

Well it seems that the PCB didn't tell him he was going to be overlooked for the Zimbabwe series.

Why are players entitled to know beforehand? I'd be surprised if Amir was packing his bags in anticipation anyway, surely he knows how off the pace he was during the t20 cup.

 

[Shaka81]

It's a fairly simple scenario. Amir has declined with age and poor fitness while younger players with better form and fitness have replaced him. I doubt he's got the desire or ability to step up the hard work required to return to form so we'll likely never see him playing for Pakistan again. But then it's Pakistan cricket so never say never. He might find favour with the new chief selector based on nothing but hope as things usually happen in Pakistan cricket.

 

[Junaids]

Mohammad Amir has been treated well over the 2010 scandal, I agree.

But the man-management of him since Inzamam and Arthur left has been simply pathetic.

Here are his actual figures until Arthur and Inzamam left:

Last 3 Test series:
12 wickets at 23.58 in South Africa
7 wickets at 21.28 in England
5 wickets at 14.40 in Ireland

2019 World Cup
17 wickets in 73 overs for 358 runs,
Average 21.05
Economy Rate 4.90
Strike Rate 25.7

My views on Amir have not changed.

He is a top class bowler with a pink or white ball, and he is a terrific Test bowler with a Dukes ball (West Indies and England) and in New Zealand and South Africa.

He is never going to be special in Asia or Australia, and it's pointless even picking him there.

He is a marked upgrade on Mohammad Abbas, and the ongoing fetish for selecting Abbas in SENA Tests instead of Amir makes no sense at all.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Mohammad Amir has been treated well over the 2010 scandal, I agree.

But the man-management of him since Inzamam and Arthur left has been simply pathetic.

Here are his actual figures until Arthur and Inzamam left:

Last 3 Test series:
12 wickets at 23.58 in South Africa
7 wickets at 21.28 in England
5 wickets at 14.40 in Ireland

2019 World Cup
17 wickets in 73 overs for 358 runs,
Average 21.05
Economy Rate 4.90
Strike Rate 25.7

My views on Amir have not changed.

He is a top class bowler with a pink or white ball, and he is a terrific Test bowler with a Dukes ball (West Indies and England) and in New Zealand and South Africa.

He is never going to be special in Asia or Australia, and it's pointless even picking him there.

He is a marked upgrade on Mohammad Abbas, and the ongoing fetish for selecting Abbas in SENA Tests instead of Amir makes no sense at all.

In his present condition, he is not even fit enough for t20 cricket, let alone with the dukes or the pink ball.

He needs to reassess his training and lifestyle big time, because it is clear that he has lost his explosive power and burst completely.

If he doesn't, it is only going to go downhill from here.

 

[Hasan123]

The fans and the PCB treated Amir well after he came back in 2016. He repaid us back by lacking motivation in certain games. Picking and choosing when he wants to turn up. Also complaining about his workload as if he had been playing international cricket for 10 years. I also did not like how he mocked the PCB with his tweet when he was dropped for the T20 series against Bangladesh. He makes out as though he is a victim and that he cannot be dropped. I'm glad he is being taught a lesson. We were there for you when in any other country you would have not played international cricket again. Show some respect. Get your head down and start pulling the hard yards in. Show that you want to play for Pakistan regularly and turn up every game. Not just when you feel like it.

 

[Junaids]

In his present condition, he is not even fit enough for t20 cricket, let alone with the dukes or the pink ball.

He needs to reassess his training and lifestyle big time, because it is clear that he has lost his explosive power and burst completely.

If he doesn't, it is only going to go downhill from here.

I agree.

I think that Amir is Pakistan's most skilled bowler, but that he lacks the intensity to train hard enough to offset his lack of height or to get his batting as good as it could be.

He has the raw materials to be a useful alternative to Hasan Ali or Faheem Ashraf as a Test Number 9 in SENA. You would get the output of Mohammad Abbas, combined with a decent chance of batting for an hour or two.

But he shows no sign of wanting to knuckle down to do the work to have that career, and with Misbah as Chief Selector we have been at an impasse, with a Chief Selector unwilling to use Amir as a SENA-only Test player.

 

[Ozeirk]

He will be back in the team. It's ok to rest him for Zimbabwe series. He still has a lot of cricket left in him and won't be surprised if he provides more memorable spells in the future.