Shoaib Akhtar's 'you didn't do Pakistan a favour' clip resurfaces amid calls for Mohammad Amir's international return
Amir is currently engaged with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where he represents Sylhet Strikers and is also the leading wicket-taker at the moment. He has so far scalped 13 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 5.95.
Ever since the change in guard in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) management, speculations of Mohammad Amir making a sensational comeback to international cricket has been on the rise. While Amir is yet to make a final decision, but PCB chief Najam Sethi addressed the matter publicly and said the gates are open for the pacer to return.
"Mohammad Amir can play international cricket for Pakistan if he takes his retirement back. I always took a strong stance against match-fixing. I believe no convicted player should be spared, but at the same time, a player should be allowed to resume international cricket once he has completed his years of penalty," Sethi had said during a press conference last week.
Amir is currently engaged with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), where he represents Sylhet Strikers and is also the leading wicket-taker at the moment. He has so far scalped 13 wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 5.95.
Amir was seen training at the National High-Performance Centre. He had claimed of being "mentally tortured" by the management, citing it as the reason behind his decision to retire from international cricket. Prior to his retirement, Amir was also snubbed from the PCB's list of central contracts.
Amidst the hullabaloo an old video of Shoaib Akhtar slamming both PCB and Amir resurfaced on YouTube and other social media platforms.
In a video posted on Saad Sports' YouTube channel, the ex-cricketer can be seen sharing his views on Amir, where he lashes at both the cricketer and the board for the mismanagement.
“PCB calling Mohammad Amir and asking do you want to play, in my opinion this is not the right approach,” Akhtar can be heard saying in the video.
Akhtar added: “We were also dropped in the past, the PCB management was angry with me for almost 12 years, but this doesn't mean that I should quit. Instead we should think what are Pakistan's requirements, this was his mistake.
“He goes and says in interviews that he invested himself in cricket, he has been punished as well in the past. Well, you did something wrong, hence you were punished. You didn't do a favour to Pakistan cricket. You had to repay what the country gave you, the country was expecting that from you.
"Until 2017 he had okay kind of performances, which was followed by a brilliant show in the Champions Trophy. However, after that there were hardly anything standard in the next 15-20 ODIs.”
