Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir took retirement at what is considered as fast bowlers prime, aged 28. He reasoned “mental torture” for this shocker. He called off from national duties last December and is thinking life beyond it, of which, playing Indian Premier League (IPL) seems to be a part of his plans.
In a conversation between Mohammad Amir and PakPassion.net, he expressed his views as follows. Below are some excerpts from it.
Amir is playing T20 leagues of the world and has decided to raise his kids in England. Amir can feature in IPL if he gets UK citizenship. Amir feels that there are 6-7 years of cricket left in him. He said, he hasn’t thought about plans post receiving UK citizenship.
“At the moment I’ve been granted indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. I’m enjoying my cricket these days and plan to play for another 6 or 7 years so let’s see how things go. My children will grow up in England and receive their education there so no doubt I will be spending a fair amount of time there. At the moment, I’ve not thought about the other possibilities and opportunities available and how things will turn out when I receive British citizenship in the future,” Amir explained.
Amir without naming anyone hinted at what’s one of the main concerns which has bothered him and stated that if a player is getting an opportunity to play around the world, he should go for it.
“Some have such a mindset where they feel that a certain person can never do anything right. No matter what that player does, they will twist it and turn it into a negative. I am only playing in the leagues that are available to other Pakistani cricketers and it’s not as if any special leagues are being organized just for my benefit. Are other players being called out for putting money first? For example, Haider Ali recently signed to play in the Caribbean Premier League, are people calling him a money-grabber? If players are getting an opportunity to play in a league, then they should go for it.
“When I was dropped from the Pakistan side, I was going to grab every opportunity so that I could improve and prove to others that I can still perform and people accepted that. But, then when I retired from Test cricket and I was playing in leagues around the world, suddenly people started saying it was all about money,” Amir added.
Mohammad Amir has played 36 Tests, 61 ODIs, and 50 T20Is for Pakistan. In those matches, he has taken 119, 81, and 59 wickets respectively.
