Mohammad Asif: I feel Mohammad Amir will regret international retirement in future

SAJ SADIQ: The history of Pakistan cricket is replete with examples of talented players such as Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Akmal who have fallen out of favour due to their differences with management

Mohammad Amir’s rise to fame as a precocious 17-year-old at the 2009 World T20 was meant to herald the birth of an illustrious and long career.

While the scandalous events of the following summer put pay to such hopes, Amir was fortunate enough to be allowed to resume his career, and against a backdrop of misgivings from some colleagues, duly made his international comeback in 2016 against New Zealand.

It was hoped the seamer would be able to continue from where he left off in 2010, but fitness issues accompanied by misgivings against the current team management have led Amir to say enough is enough and quit international cricket.

For the former Pakistan international Mohammad Asif, who was banned at the same time as Amir, the left-armer’s situation should have been handled better by both the player himself and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

“Both the Pakistan Cricket Board and Mohammad Amir are at fault regarding how his international career has turned out. The PCB showed a lot of faith in him and gave him a lot of support after his ban, but recently they have shown a lack of flexibility in what they want from him,” Asif says.

"This has resulted in the current situation which could and should have been avoided for the sake of Pakistan cricket. At the same time, I feel that Amir has been a little impetuous in making the decision that he has and should have thought this through a little better.”

Blessed with pace and the ability to swing the ball at will at the start of his career, and despite the five-year exclusion from cricket, Amir’s skills continued to be evident after his return.

The Indian side that had the misfortune to run into him during Pakistan’s Champions Trophy victory at The Oval in 2017 could well testify to this.

^{Mohammad Amir has retired from international cricket}

“There is no doubt that Mohammad Amir at his best is still a match-winner," Asif says. "Admittedly his form in Test cricket wasn’t great after his comeback and perhaps too much was expected of him after being out of the game for five years.

"I know what it’s like to come back to cricket after such a long gap, it takes its toll on your mind and body and you do have self-doubts, but, even today, he is a bowler who can single-handedly win you a match in the white-ball formats and his retirement will be a big loss for Pakistan cricket.”

While the decision by Amir to walk away from Test cricket after the 2019 World Cup, and only make himself available for the white-ball cricket, was not met with approval by his fans and the PCB, to Asif the decision was taken for the right reasons and his subsequent retirement from all formats will be a huge loss for the country.

“Amir made the decision to retire from Test cricket due to fitness concerns, which I feel were genuine. Instead of the Pakistan Cricket Board accepting that decision and utilising his skills in the shorter formats, they have now ended up losing him in all formats after their uncompromising attitude.

"If they brought him back to international cricket, then that doesn’t mean that he owes them any favours or has to risk damaging his body and his career for them forever. He has to think about himself and put his career first, ahead of the PCB’s demands and wishes and that’s what he has done and I don’t blame him at all for doing that.”

Having himself experienced the effects of an often tenuous relationship between team management and players, Asif can well understand why Amir might blame the likes of head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis for his decision to leave international cricket.

“This isn’t the first time there has been a falling out between the Pakistan team management and a player and I’m sure it won’t be the last time either,” he adds.

“The problem is that there seems to be a lack of flexibility in the team management and a lot of stubbornness. Whoever the current team management doesn’t like, they discard them, no matter how good they are or how vital they are to the team. Top coaches know how to get the best out of their players and know when to play them and when to rest them.

^{Amir retired from Test cricket in 2019}

“Unfortunately, this is a trait that our current coaches like Waqar Younis have not learnt as they still have that 1990s mindset of when they were playing. They don’t know how to handle players and they panic after a couple of poor performances and are not capable of showing faith or patience in their star performers.”

The history of Pakistan cricket is replete with examples of talented players such as Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Akmal who have fallen out of favour due to their differences with management. To Asif, the failure of the team management to understand and work with those slightly eccentric or complicated characters is the sort of culture that he would like to see removed.

“The Pakistani cricket culture at the moment seems to be one where if a player such as Amir isn’t performing, that’s it, kick him out, drop him, let him rot, instead of looking into what’s going wrong, why isn’t he performing and supporting him, reigniting that passion for cricket and those skills they once possessed.

“They need to look further into their levels of fitness, are they carrying injuries, are there mental issues or is something else wrong, instead of just making presumptions that a player has simply lost the abilities they once had and doesn’t want to play for Pakistan again.”

Amir’s return to international cricket was heralded by much fanfare with the pacer intent on winning over the critics and re-establishing himself as one of the world’s top bowlers. While performances in the shorter formats seemed to be testament to his skills, he struggled in Test cricket and doubts about this version of Mohammad Amir started to creep in.

Over time and with the world expecting, the sheen wore off his second entry into world cricket which to Asif was clearly the fault of how the fast-bowler was mishandled by Pakistan’s team management.

“There seems to be an issue with the current Pakistan team coaching set-up where they are unable to get the best out of characters who are a little different such as Mohammad Amir. Cricketers aren’t robots, they aren’t all the same and to get the best out of them you have to man-manage them differently and don’t expect them all to be yes-men.

"There is an art to managing players and unfortunately the current group of coaches for Pakistan does not have the skillset to get the best from slightly complicated characters. Perhaps they just want robots, or players who will just say Yes Sir and that’s why they keep picking those players such as Wahab Riaz who have zero performances, but will happily agree with everything the team management are saying.”

^{Amir and Mohammad Asif were both handed five-year bans for their part in the 2010 spot-fixing scandal}

While Amir’s decision to walk away from international cricket looks final, many including Asif hope he will reconsider this emotional decision. The fact that the left-armer was never totally out in the cold from international cricket after his ban could, in Asif’s view, explain why he has taken the decision to retire. Amir may, Asif believes, come to regret his choice in the cold light of day.

“Despite the flaws in the current group of coaches and the team management I still believe that Mohammad Amir has made the wrong decision in retiring from international cricket.

“I look at my own example, I would have given anything to play for Pakistan again after my ban, but it didn’t happen and that hurts. Only those in that situation who are being ignored by the selectors know how much it hurts and how important playing for your country is. I wanted to play for my country again, I was desperate to win over my critics and gain redemption, but I never got the chance.

“Perhaps it all came too easy for Amir after his ban and that’s why he is giving it all up now. All things considered I feel he will regret this decision in future, as playing in Twenty20 Leagues might be a short-term gain, but ultimately international cricket is where a player’s legacy is made.”

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