‘My body was broken, I’m not a machine’ – Mohammad Amir on his premature Test retirement

Back in July 2019, Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from Test cricket and his decision raised a lot of eyebrows. Former cricketers from the country expressed their disappointment. Thereafter in August, he was relegated to Category C in the PCB’s central contracts. Earlier this year, adding insult to injury, he was left out of the central contracts as well.

The 28-year-old was excluded from Pakistan’s home series against Bangladesh despite performing reasonably for Khulna Tigers in the Bangabandhu BPL. In the BPL, he picked up his best T20 figures of 6/17 against the Rajshahi Royals. Talking about his Test retirement, considered premature my many, Amir said that his body was running out of gas and it impacted his bowling to a large extent.

I wasn’t getting rhythm: Mohammad Amir

Amir’s career went to the doldrums during the infamous spot-fixing scandal at the Lord’s. He made his return in the 2016 Asia Cup in Bangladesh. The speedster said that he lost pace and swing due to which he feared that his career could finish in a couple of years.

“I know that if I play 3 formats especially test cricket, my body won’t let it happen. My body was so broken that people on social media started saying Amir’s swing is gone and pace is low and he’s not getting rhythm,” Amir told to Saqlain Mushtaq in an interview.

“So, they should know Amir is not a machine and human and there has to be a reason that the pace fell, swing got lost and I wasn’t getting rhythm. I came back after a 5-year gap and I don’t want my career finished in 2 years,” he stated.

Because of his poor form, Amir wasn’t included in Pakistan’s preliminary 15-man squad for the 2019 World Cup. After being sidelined, insecurities threatened to get the better of the Punjab-born.

“The World Cup axe was a big blow for me and I thought I’ve now gotten to a stage where I’m dying to play the tournament and I’m getting dropped so I had to decide about my cricket and how I can keep myself at the top level for the next 5/6 years,” Amir added.

Later, Amir was included in the national squad and he didn’t disappoint. In eight matches, he was Pakistan’s leading wicket-taker with 17 scalps at an economy of 4.90.