Pakistan bowling coach and former captain Waqar Younis criticised the evergrowing impact of T20 leagues across the globe and said that the easy money available in those tournaments have made players sacrifice their national interest.
“These leagues offer easy money for players who can remain in comfort as they have to bowl just four overs. But at times, while thinking about their comfort zone players don’t think how much damage they can do to national interest. They don’t think about the broader picture,” Waqar said in a conference call with journalists as quoted by IANS.
It’s apparent that Waqar’s comments have come as an indirect jibe to the likes of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz whom he slammed saying they had “ditched” their national team.
“Just before the Australia series, they ditched us and we had the only choice to pick youngsters. We were the new management and decided to go on with taking in the younger lot and groom them,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Waqar as saying.
The 27-year-old Amir retired from the longest format of the game in July last year to manage his workload and extend his career in white-ball cricket. Wahab, on the other hand, who is 35-year-old, took an “indefinite break from Test cricket ahead of the tour to Australia.
However, even after his retirement Amir was seen playing four-day matches for county side Essex and remains an active campaigner in T20 leagues.
His behaviour had irked the cricket fraternity in Pakistan with legends like Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar coming down heavily on him for his premature departure.
“I am thoroughly disappointed that Amir has retired at the age where players are at the peak of their careers. It was time for Amir to pay back Pakistan. In a time where Pakistan’s run in Test matches is so poor, Amir was needed to deliver for his side and help them win some series. I had helped Pakistan win series in England and New Zealand despite knee injuries,” Akhtar said.
“What really happened was that two of our premium bowlers [Amir, Wahab] just retired from Test cricket. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the whole country invested five years in Amir,” Akram had opined as quoted by FOX Cricket.