ISLAMABAD: After pacer Mohammad Amir confirmed his retirement, former cricketer Shoaib Akhtar on Thursday revealed that he too wasn’t treated well by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management during the 2011 cricket World Cup.
In a video that has now gone viral on social media, Amir had said that he does not think he can work with the current PCB management and it is best for him to leave.
“To be honest, I don’t think I can play cricket under this management, I am leaving cricket, for now, I am being mentally tortured, I cannot handle it, I have seen it enough from 2010-2015. I have to repeatedly hear that PCB invested a lot in me, I am thankful to Shahid Afridi as he gave me chances when I came back after the ban,” said Amir in a video that has now gone viral on social media.
PCB chief executive Wasim Khan had a word with the 29-year-old pacer on Thursday afternoon following reports that the fast bowler had announced his retirement from international cricket.
“Amir confirmed to the PCB chief executive that he has no desires or intentions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches,” PCB had said in an official statement on Thursday.
Akhtar said Amir should have dealt with the PCB management by performing well in cricket. The former pacer also said he too was not treated well by the PCB when he was on the cusp of his retirement in 2011.
“I openly say that I was not treated well during the 2011 World Cup, not by Afridi but by the rest of the management. I am saying it openly. I was harassed but I didn’t care as I had already announced my retirement,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.
“Amir should have bowled well and improved his performance so that no one could remove him from the team. You have to face your fears and you must confront management but by performing,” he added. Akhtar claimed that he would train Amir to bowl again with the same intensity in just two months
“If you hand Amir to me for two months, everyone will see him bowling over 150km/h. I can teach him that I taught him three years ago. He can make a comeback,” said Akhtar. Amir played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 50 T20Is. Amir went on to take 259 wickets across three formats of the game. Amir had played his first international match during the 2009 T20 World Cup.
However, a big turning point came in 2010 as Amir was arrested for spot-fixing and he was given a five-year ban for bowling two deliberate no-balls in a Test match against England. Last year, Amir had announced his retirement from Test cricket in order to focus on white-ball cricket. He called time on his career after playing just 36 Tests, in which he scalped 119 wickets.
In November this year, Amir was dropped from Pakistan’s T20 squad for the three-match series against New Zealand. He was last seen in action in the Lanka Premier League and he represented Galle Gladiators.
Speaking to ANI earlier this month, Amir revealed that he spent most of his time training during the lockdown to remain in the best possible shape.
“Yes, the time has been tough for people and sports took a backseat for a while during the lockdown. As a professional cricketer, I did whatever I could, in a limited capacity, to keep myself fit and it also gave me time to think about my game. But things have slowly started to move on, and here we are at the Lanka Premier League today. It is a new league, happening under some really challenging circumstances, but it is going on well, there are some really good performances from so many players,” he had said. (ANI)
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