Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir has reiterated that he retired from Test cricket at his prime to focus more on his limited-overs game for the Pakistan cricket team. He said that regular involvement in the three formats had affected his performance which, in turn, brought heavy criticism.
“I know that if I play 3 formats especially test cricket, my body won’t let it happen. My body was so broken that people on social media started saying Amir’s swing is gone and pace is low and he’s not getting rhythm. So they should know Amir is not a machine and human and there has to be a reason that the pace fell, swing got lost and I wasn’t getting rhythm. I came back after a 5-year gap and I don’t want my career finished in 2 years.” Amir was seen saying to Mushtaq Ahmed on his Youtube channel.
The 28-year-old pacer also spoke about his mediocre performance in the 2019 World Cup and how it compelled him to make the tough decision of bidding adieu to cricket’s traditional format.
“The World Cup axe was a big blow for me and I thought I’ve now gotten to a stage where I’m dying to play the tournament and I’m getting dropped so I had to decide about my cricket and how I can keep myself at the top level for the next five-six years. Playing is not an issue but staying at the top is and that’s a big challenge. Playing it’s no good if I perform in one match out of three. Where Allah has given one respect they should maintain it, if he made me a good bowler I should stay at that standard and not be like others being happy getting the odd wicket bowling at 130. If I do that it means I’m not able to express my qualities, I know I can bowl 140 but I’m not able to do it so I have to find a way out,” he said.
“In the first World Cup match against the West Indies, I played with a spasm and you can ask Cliffey about this. (Pointing to his left collar bone) I couldn’t see my collar bone and I had taken three pain killers the night before and another three in the morning and my shoulder was taped. When I bowled the first ball of the match I was screaming on the inside with the pain that’s how much pain I was in. Others wouldn’t have heard the screaming but I was the one who cried. During the World Cup, I had told Mickey I am retiring from Tests and I will announce it because I need time to build my body and as long as I play the longer format, my body won’t get time to recover because I need a break to build it,” the left-arm seamer explained.
Amir, after making his international comeback in 2016, played all the three formats almost without rest. With a lack of quality bowlers in the squad, he was also handed over the responsibility to lead the Pakistani attack in all formats.
During the time of his Test retirement, Amir boasted impressive numbers with 119 wickets from 36 matches at an average of 30.47. Thus, it came as a shocker to the cricket world to see one of the best bowlers of the generation deciding to step away at an early stage of his career.