Wasim Akram, Shoaib Akhtar slam Mohammad Amir for retiring from Tests at 27

According to Akram, Amir shouldn’t have hung his boots from Test cricket so early as that is when a fast bowlers peaks.

Former Pakistan cricketers Wasim Akram and Shoaib Akhtar expressed their disappointment at Mohammad Amir’s decision to retire from Test cricket at a young age. Amir announced his Test retirement at the age of 27 and this came after he was in top for the Men in Green in the recently-concluded ICC World Cup 2019, returning as their highest wicket taker.

Wasim Akram was surprised at Mohammed Amir’s decision to retire from Tests (Hindustan Times)

According to Akram, Amir shouldn’t have hung his boots from Test cricket so early as that is when a fast bowlers peaks. “To me Mohammad Amir retiring from Test cricket is a bit surprising because you peak at 27-28 and Test cricket is where you are judged against the best, it’s the ultimate format,” Akram tweeted on Friday.

Akhtar, on the other hand, went on to raise an alarm, saying that such a decision could set a bad precedent. “Mohammad Amir retirement could be followed by Hasan Ali, Wahab Riaz and Juanid Khan’s retirement. I don’t understand what is happening with the Pakistan team. How could Mohammad Amir retire at the age of 27? Pakistan has invested so much on him and brought him out of the match-fixing scandal to the national side and is trying to give him chances. Now that he was in good form, he has retired,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel.

Former skipper Ramiz Raja also echoed Akram’s sentiments and tweeted: “Amir white flagging Test Cricket at 27 is disappointing. Besides being dismissive of the greatest format that makes stars legends his decision is clearly not in line with the needs of Pak ckt which is desperately looking to reboot test cricket. Was time to repay & not eject”

On Friday, Amir bid adieu to Test cricket, saying he wants to focus on white-ball cricket for Pakistan.

The left-arm pacer, who made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Galle in July 2009, featured in 36 Tests, taking 119 wickets at an average of 30.47.

(With agency inputs)