Four years after announcing his international retirement, Mohammed Amir has reversed his decision and will be available for selection for Pakistan in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
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The 31-year-old confirmed his decision on social media where he wrote that the PCB made him realise he was still needed.
“I still dream to play for Pakistan! life brings us to the points where at times we have to reconsider our decisions, There has been few positive discussions between myself and the PCB where they respectfully made me feel that I was needed and can still play for Pakistan after discussing with family and we’ll wishers I declare that I am available to be considered for upcoming t20WC ,I want do this for my country as it comes before my personal decisions. Donning the green jersey and serving my country has always been, and will continue to be, my greatest aspirations,” he wrote.
I still dream to play for Pakistan!
life brings us to the points where at times we have to reconsider our decisions, There has been few positive discussions between myself and the PCB where they respectfully made me feel that I was needed and can still play for Pakistan after…
— Mohammad Amir (@iamamirofficial) March 24, 2024
Amir played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is for his country before he decided to step away from all forms of international cricket in 2020 after claiming to be “mentally tortured” by the team management at the time. “I am leaving cricket for now because I’m being mentally tortured. I don’t think I can bear such torture. I’ve borne lots of torture from 2010 to 2015, for which I served my time,” he had said.
“I’ll just say two people invested in me a lot: [former PCB chairman] Najam Sethi and [former Pakistan captain] Shahid Afridi. They were the only two. The rest of the team was saying, ‘we don’t want to play with Amir’. Recently, the atmosphere that’s been created means I get taunted all the time by being told I don’t want to play for my country. Who doesn’t want to play for their country?”
Amir was involved in the spot-fixing scandal in 2010 at Lord’s for which he received a five-year suspension. Touted as a generational talent before the incident, Amir only recreated his scintillating best in spurts after his comeback. He starred in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy win in 2017, dismissing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan with the new ball to help Pakistan to a 180-run victory in the final.
Since his retirement, Amir has been a regular in various T20 leagues. He has played 111 T20s, taking part in the Bangladesh Premier League, the Caribbean Premier League and the Pakistan Super League among other tournaments, picking up 126 scalps at an average of 23.41 and a strike rate of 18.6.
Amir’s retirement reversal is the second such instance of a Pakistan player taking back his decision in the last 24 hours. Yesterday (March 23) Imad Wasim, who announced his retirement in November 2023, confirmed he would be available for the T20 World Cup in June after being pursued by the PCB officials.
The T20 World Cup will begin on June 2 with Pakistan’s first game four days later against the United States.
