Mohammad Amir was dropped as his performances were not up to the mark: Babar Azam

Mohammad Amir is no stranger to controversies. Back in 2010, in a Test match against England, Amir was convicted in a spot-fixing case that rocked the cricketing world, where he, his skipper Salman Butt and fellow pacer Mohammad Asif were banned from the sport.

The Pakistani pacer had created another stir by announcing his retirement from international cricket last month. The left-arm pacer sensationally stated that he was being mentally tortured by the Pakistan management.

However, Pakistan skipper and batting sensation Babar Azam is not ready to buy into any of that. Azam has stated that Amir was dropped from the side simply because his performances were not good. In fact, Azam has even stated that if Amir can prove that he still ‘has it’ in him and regains his lost form, he will be selected again.

“Mohammad Amir was dropped as his performances were not up to the mark. If he regains his form and continues to perform, then selectors will definitely consider his return and talk to him,” said Babar in a candid chat with the media.

Mohammad Amir has had a disastrous last two years

Surely, Babar Azam has a valid point. Amir has had a disastrous last two years with the ball. Amir played 7 T20Is in the year 2019 and managed to pick up just 7 wickets at an economy rate of almost 8(7.82) runs an over. In the year 2020, the pacer could not scalp even a single wicket in T20I’s and went at an economy rate of 9.36 runs an over.

And, things had also gone in a downward spiral for Amir. He was dropped from the limited-overs squad for the New Zealand series and last played an international match for his country on August 30th, 2020. Also, in the whole of 2020, Amir could not even play a single ODI game as well.

In his limited-overs career, Amir played 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is. While he picked up 81 wickets in the ODI format, he scalped 59 wickets in T20I cricket. There have been quite a few cricketers in the past who have reversed their retirement decision and returned back to the sport, with the legendary Shahid Afridi doing so on multiple occasions. With Amir just 28 years old, it remains to be seen if he will do a U-Turn on his retirement decision, especially with the T20 World Cup coming up next year.