Srinagar: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has lashed out at Mohammad Amir for laters supposed return to International cricket.
Amir’s return to play in the Pakistan jersey has been a hot topic of discussion ever since PCB Chairman Najam Sethi opened the door for him to return to the fold and allowed him to train at the National High-Performance Centre.
Speaking on the matter on Saad Sports’ YouTube channel, as quoted by Hindustan Times, Akhtar slammed PCB and Amir and said that the cricket governing body asking the 30-year-old if he wants to play is not the right approach.
Akhtar slammed Amir by saying that he got punished for doing something wrong and he didn’t do a favour to Pakistan cricket. The former cricketer also said that the 30-year-old’s performances dipped after his Champions Trophy 2017 heroics.
“PCB calling Mohammad Amir and asking do you want to play, in my opinion this is not the right approach.”
“We were also dropped in the past, the PCB management was angry with me for almost 12 years, but this doesn’t mean that I should quit. Instead we should think what are Pakistan’s requirements, this was his mistake”.
“He goes and says in interviews that he invested himself in cricket, he has been punished as well in the past. Well, you did something wrong, hence you were punished. You didn’t do a favour to Pakistan cricket. You had to repay what the country gave you, the country was expecting that from you.”
“Until 2017 he had okay kind of performances, which was followed by a brilliant show in the Champions Trophy. However, after that there were hardly anything standard in the next 15-20 ODIs,” said Akhtar.