'Look at Kishan, Suryakumar; they looked ready for international cricket at debut' - Mohammad Amir slams Pakistan management for selecting youngsters with technical shortcomings

Slamming the Pakistan management hard over its selection policy and practices, pacer Mohammad Amir blamed them for promoting youngster with “technical flaws” to play at the international level.

The left-arm pacer, who called quits on his international career in December last year, feels that many of the young players in the current team have shortcomings and they are not suitable to play at the highest level.

In a conversation with PakPassion.net, he went onto compare Pakistan with India, England, and New Zealand, who he feels pick players who have learned the game properly at the domestic level, unlike Pakistan, where players are expected to learn while they play international matches.

Our players are expected to learn while playing international cricket: Mohammad Amir

“Look at the players that India, England and New Zealand are bringing into international cricket. They are ready to play at the highest level as they have done the hard yards and have completed their learning in the domestic and junior systems. Once selected, they show their skills in international cricket which they have already learnt in domestic cricket.”

Whereas in Pakistan, at the moment, our players are expected to learn from the national coaches while playing international cricket, rather than having already learnt the art of cricket earlier in their careers,” Amir said.

Citing examples of several Indian youngsters who recently debuted for India after impressing at the domestic stage for years, he said “Look at Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya, they looked ready and primed for international cricket when they made their debuts and did not look to need much advice or coaching at all. They have played several years of domestic cricket and the IPL and that makes their introduction into international cricket much smoother.”

Amir further stressed that an ‘underprepared’ player shouldn’t come to international cricket and hope to learn the game while representing the country at a higher level.

“International cricket isn’t school cricket where you learn on the job. It’s a tough environment where only players who are ready and who have learnt about the game and obtained the necessary skills should be selected. If you want to learn about cricket, do it at the academy or in First-Class cricket, don’t come to international cricket underprepared and hope to learn whilst playing for your country.”

“Too often our [Pakistan] young players are thrown into international cricket with technical flaws, with issues in their game, in the hope that they will improve. Well, it doesn’t work like that at all and the sooner we realize it, the better it will be,” the former pacer said.