Head coach, Misbah-ul-Haq. has hit back at Mohammad Amir’s decision toretire from international cricket, claiming he ‘made up’ the circumstancesaround his retirement. Misbah said that Amir’s exclusion from the team wassolely down to his poor performances and not personal liking and disliking.——————————
Mohammad Amir announced his decision to retire from international cricketlast month and said that he would not play cricket under the currentPakistan team management. Amir said that he was mentally tortured by theteam management, pointing fingers at head coach, Misbah-ul-Haq, and bowlingcoach, Waqar Younis.
Misbah said that Amir’s recent performances did not warrant a place in theteam ahead of other exciting young players. Amir’s performances in Englandand National T20 Cup were underwhelming, and the selection committeedecided not to select him in the series against Zimbabwe and for the tourof New Zealand.
“Nobody was supporting his selection on the basis of performance. I have noidea why he made up everything and tried to give this whole scenario acontext that is out of proportion. For him, it was a simple method, go backand prove his form and get back in the team and everything else isirrelevant,” Misbah said.
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Misbah added that when Mohammad Amir came back in 2016, after serving hisfive-year ban from cricket, he was the one who accepted Amir back with openarms. There were a few players that were against Mohammad Amir coming backinto the team, but Misbah along with the then head coach, Waqar Younis, andPCB Chairman, Sheheryar Khan, supported him and included him back into thePakistan setup.
Misbah said that young bowlers like Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, andShaheen Afridi gave everything for the team. He further added that they areimproving and performing better for the team than Amir. Furthermore, hesaid that Amir’s only responsibility was to go back to domestic cricket,regain his form and fitness back and then get back to the national team toperform at his best.
