Mohammad Amir’s retirement from international cricket has created a lot of ruckus in the Pakistan cricket fraternity. Back in 2019, the Gujjar Khan-born hung his boots from Test cricket and was criticised for the decision. Now earlier in December, the left-arm speedster bid adieu to all forms of international cricket after last playing for the national team in the England tour.

A number of former and current Pakistan cricketers have had their say on Amir’s decision. Mohammad Hafeez, the 40-year-old veteran, stated that Amir’s move of not wanting to play for Pakistan was something ‘personal’ and should be ‘respected’.

“I’m sorry, this is a personal decision and, in my opinion, personal decisions should be respected. If someone doesn’t want to represent Pakistan, then so be it,” Hafeez was quoted as saying during an interview.

Mohammad Amir speaks up

In the meantime, Amir hit back his teammate, mentioning that he never wished to not represent Pakistan at the highest level. Amir clarified that the reason for his decision circled around the current team management.

“U [you] are wrong brother. I never said I don’t want to represent Pakistan. I said I can’t play for Pakistan with this management. U [you] doing good for Pakistan right now, so enjoy that,” Amir mentioned.

Previously, Amir also accused the Pakistan Cricket Board of mentally torturing him. “Right now, I am leaving cricket. I am being mentally tortured. I don’t think, I will be able to handle this kind of torture because I have been tortured a lot from 2010 to 2015,” Amir had said.

Amir’s career went into the doldrums when he was alleged for spot-fixing in the Lord’s Test earlier the decade. In the 2016 Asia Cup, he made his comeback and bowled a stupendous spell against India. From there on, the pacer played for his country in all three formats.

In 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is, Amir picked up 119, 81 and 59 wickets respectively after making his debut as a teenager back in 2009. The 28-year-old was recently a part of the Galle Gladiators where he played under the leadership of Shahid Afridi and tutelage of Moin Khan.