Pakistan cricketer Mohammad Amir on Thursday announced that he is quitting international cricket, adding that it is difficult for him to work under the current Pakistan Cricket Board management. He is expected to give a full statement on the matter soon.
The 28-year-old bowler said that he felt it was best to leave as was being “mentally tortured”.
“To be honest, I don’t think I can play cricket under this management. I am leaving cricket. I am being mentally tortured. I cannot handle it. I have had enough since 2010-2015. I have had to hear repeatedly that PCB invested a lot in me,” Amir said in a video.
He added that he was thankful to Shahid Afridi for giving him chances to come back to the team after the ban. Amir was arrested for his role in match-fixing and was also given a five-year ban for bowling two deliberate no-balls in a Test match against England.
“Everyone wants to play for their country, they just keep saying that I left Test cricket for other leagues around the world. I made the comeback through BPL. If I was really dying to play in other leagues, I could have said I don’t want to play for Pakistan. Every month someone will say ‘Amir ditched us’. I will reach Pakistan soon and then I will release a statement,” he further said.
Amir, who played his first international match in the 2009 T20 World Cup, has played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 50 ODIs for Pakistan, and has gone on to take 259 wickets across all three formats.
In 2010, after he was found guilty of conspiracy charges relating to spot-fixing, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, Amir publicly asked for forgiveness.
Amir had announced his retirement from Test cricket last year so as to focus on white-ball cricket. He represented Pakistan in 36 Tests, in which he scalped 119 wickets.