NEW DELHI: “This is never guaranteed that I will play all the matches because it’s cricket, it’s the fastest format, and there are back-to-back games. At the end of the day, we are human beings,” Mohammad Amir, who rattled the likes of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli to give Pakistan a taste of the coveted ICC Champions Trophy back in June 2017, told TimesofIndia.com during an exclusive conversation.
Uncertainty loomed large as he couldn’t confirm if his body would allow him to play every game for Desert Vipers in the third season of International League T20, commonly known as the ILT20.
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Two matches into the tournament, Amir has bowled eight overs in total and taken two wickets, both of which have come in the first over of his spell.
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The impact of those wickets has been such that even the social media admin of the franchise was forced to carve out a dedicated graphic for Amir with the caption: “Amir + first-over wicket = Match made in Vipers’ Den”.
Watching Amir bowl with such flow these days raises so many questions. Is he still at his peak? Did he retire from international cricket too soon? And many more.
Involved in the infamous spot-fixing scandal in 2010, Amir, only 19 years old at the time, served a five-year ban, imposed by the ICC, between 2010 and 2015.
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After overcoming many challenges, Amir played an integral part in Pakistan’s historic Champions Trophy victory, beating arch-rivals India in 2017 on English soil.
Two years later, in 2019, the left-arm pacer decided to retire from Test cricket. By December 2020, Amir stepped away from international white-ball cricket, citing “mental torture” and “shabby treatment” by the team management.
Surprisingly, he came out of retirement in March 2024, with hopes of a successful return to the international stage. Soon, he was included in Pakistan’s squad for the ICC T20 World Cup, but unfortunately, their campaign fell short as the Men in Green were eliminated in the group stages.
A few months later, on December 14, 2024, just a month ago, Amir posted this on his social media: “After careful consideration, I have taken the difficult decision to retire from international cricket. These decisions are never easy but are inevitable.”
Discussing his sudden decision to retire for the second time, Amir initially quipped, “I have taken retirement from international cricket, but I am still playing in the leagues. (laughs)”
Shifting to a more serious tone, he then justified his retirement call by saying, “Actually, look, we now have such good young players who are delivering and playing regularly. It’s their time. And I believe that those who have to serve the country for 5-10 years, it’s their right to fill that spot. I made my debut in 2009, and so many years have passed playing international cricket. Now, it’s time for the youngsters to carry this forward.”
However, it wasn’t long before he clarified that the fast-paced nature of the game, with numerous tournaments happening one after another, led him to pick franchise leagues over international cricket.
“In white-ball cricket, I never had a fitness issue; sometimes maybe yes only in the longer formats. You don’t stay young forever; you move towards old age, and then you have to manage your workload. Rest becomes very limited because of the continuous back-to-back cricket, international cricket, and league cricket,” Amir told TimesofIndia.com. “It becomes really difficult to manage all of that. So, at that time, you have to pick and choose which format you can serve more and where your body can get the required rest. This is what goes on in a player’s mind.”
“Yes, as a professional, it’s your duty to take care of your fitness, diet, and training. We do that, and we meet the requirements, but there’s no guarantee that an injury won’t happen,” concluded the southpaw, who has over 350 T20 wickets in leagues across the globe and a lot of cricket seemingly left in him.
