Fortune gives Amir a chance to bamboozle the cricket world once again with ball:
It was the end of the COVID-hit year of 2020 when Pakistan’s fast bowler, Mohammad Amir at the age of just 28 announced his retirement from cricket. A player of Amir’s stature, bidding farewell before even turning 30 years normally would have shocked the cricket world. However, Amir’s case was different, different and melancholic.
A young Mohammad Amir once used to ravage through the batting lineups of opposition for fun. His pace and swing during his teenage years, in front of world-class batters, baffled even the greatest pundits of the game. It looked like Pakistan had found a pacer who would stay hunting the batters with his lethal bowling for a long time. Unfortunately, a promising prospect like Amir ended up losing his charisma after evidence of his involvement in a spot-fixing incident surfaced. Amir was handed a 5 year ban on playing cricket, leaving Pakistan pace attack and his career in shambles.
5 years went by and Amir came back after serving his time. He was still only 23 years old and his bowling skills were still as daunting as before. He collected more triumphs, helped his team win multiple matches with his mastery. One such instance was during the final of the Champion’s Trophy in 2017 when Pakistan faced the arch-rivals India. Unbothered of the pressure of the game, Amir bowled the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan out.
Again, Amir’s Utopian world started crashing slowly as his discontent with the management under Ramiz Raja as the chair of Pakistan Cricket Board started growing. So much so that by the end of 2020, Amir decided to hang his boots citing that he can not bear the ‘mental torture’ further. The pacer also said that the only two people who invested in him were Najam Sethi and Shahid Afridi and everyone else has been doing nothing but taunting him.
Although Amir made himself unavailable for National selection, there were always reports that should the management get changed, he will think of coming back.
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And so it did. The management and the leadership of the PCB was sacked and new-but-old faces were brought in with, you guessed it right, Najam Sethi taking the charge of the governing body. A few days after Sethi took the reins, he hinted that he would never stop the Gujar Khan-born from coming in the team.
In a recent press conference again, the Chair of the PCB, while answering a question, said that Amir can make a return if he takes his retirement back.
“Mohammad Amir can play international cricket for Pakistan if he takes his retirement back. I always took a strong stance against match-fixing. I believe no convicted player should be spared, but at the same time, a player should be allowed to resume international cricket once he has completed his years of penalty.”
Things would never be more conducive for Amir to make a return as are now and this perfect setting might not last for a long time as well. However, Amir is not 18 or 23 years old now, he is 30; which would not have been a problem if young and talented bowlers like Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr., Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain and Shahnawaz Dahani were not in the scenario. Amir, now, not only needs to return but also needs to use his performance to make an impressive statement.
