Mohammad Amir miffed at teammates for leaking Test retirement thoughts

What’s the story?

Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir is apparently pondering retiring from the longer format of the game to concentrate on ODI and T20 cricket. However, according to a report in the Indian Express, the 25-year-old is in fact miffed with a few of his teammates as the private discussion he had held with them after Pakistan lost to West Indies in the second Test has now made its way to the media.

"Amir himself is now upset how this private discussion came out in the open and who leaked the discussions," the report said quoting an inside source. "The Pakistan Cricket Board and the team management in West Indies are now investigating as to who is responsible for leaking this private discussion."

In case you didn’t know...

Amir has been in good form for Pakistan in the ongoing three-match Test series against West Indies picking up 11 wickets in two matches so far, including a six-wicket haul in the first innings of the Jamaica Test which the visitors won to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

The hosts, however, pulled things back with a 106-run victory at Bridgetown to leave the series interestingly poised ahead of the final Test at Dominica. The talk ahead of the match will now be centred around Amir who has failed to rise to the high expectations since making his comeback to international cricket after serving a 5-year ban for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

The heart of the matter

Expectations have always been high on Amir ever since he broke onto the scene as a teenager in 2009 before his world turned upside down due to the spot-fixing scandal. Having served the five-year ban imposed by the ICC, Amir resumed playing international cricket in the year 2016 and has been a consistent presence in the national side in all three formats of the game.

Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has been one of the many former cricketers who have voiced their concerns over his supposed below-par performances and it seems Amir is apparently willing to give up on the Test format as he feels the 5-day format is extremely taxing from a physical point of view.

Though Amir has never publically mentioned so, the reports in the Pakistani media indicate that he had held an informal meeting with a few of his teammates where he revealed his thoughts and in what is surely an embarrassing situation for the PCB and Amir himself, the candid chat has now made its way to the media.

What’s next?

With the private chat becoming the talk of the media, Amir can expect a lot of questions to come his way as to how serious he is about playing all three formats of the game. Whatever the nature of the discussion, the news has come at the worst possible time for the Pakistan Test side ahead of the decider at Bridgetown which will also bring an end to the illustrious careers of skipper Misbah-ul-Haq and veteran Younis Khan.

Author’s Take

With a crammed international calendar, many cricketers have taken the decision to concentrate on some formats of the game and more often than not, it is Test cricket that has born the brunt the most. More so in the case of fast bowlers.

Amir, though, is just 25, and still has a lot of cricket left in him. Whatever his final decision on the matter, it is highly imperative that he clears the air about the discussion he had with his teammates now that the matter has become public.