ISLAMABAD: Pakistan bowling coach Waqar Younis feels it will be tough for paceman Mohammad Amir to make a comeback to international cricket without first impressing domestically.
Amir retired from international play last December, saying he was mentally tortured by his teammates and coaches. The left-arm fast bowler played in the recent Pakistan Super League with minimal success.
He reportedly met with Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan earlier this year, leading to speculation of a return before the Twenty20 World Cup in October.
“No doubt he’s a fine cricketer, but if he doesn’t want to take his retirement back and impress selectors by playing cricket, it will be hard,” Younis told reporters via videoconference from England on Monday.
“It’s Pakistan cricket, it’s not yours or my cricket (team), you have to do the right things to play for your country. This is not a franchise cricket and one got to remember that.”
Younis said he was not aware about any meeting between Khan and Amir.
“To be honest I didn’t know about this (meeting),” he said. “He (Khan) is head of the cricket and he has every right to meet whosoever he wants to see; he went there in his personal capacity and we didn’t know about it.”
Amir played for Karachi Kings in the PSL, but could take only five wickets in 11 matches at an average of 69.80. Karachi was knocked out after losing both of their playoffs.
Amir took 259 wickets across 36 Tests, 61 one-day internationals and 50 T20s.
He was 18 when he was banned in 2010 for five years and jailed for three months for spot-fixing in a Test series in England. He was allowed to return to cricket a few months early and recalled by Pakistan in 2016.
In 2019 he no longer wanted to play Tests, to focus on white-ball cricket and prolong his international career.
Amir’s last international was in August 2020 in a T20 against England.
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