Twitter reacts to Pakistan ignoring Mohammad Amir from the World Cup 2019 squad

Pakistan announced their 15-man team for the World Cup 2019 on Thursday. The squad is led by wicketkeeper-batsman Sarfaraz Ahmed and included names of some of Pakistan’s brightest talents like Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi. However, left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir, who was once among the premier fast bowlers was left out.

Of late, Amir has had a dull period, going wicketless in nine out of 14 matches he played (took five wickets) since Pakistan defeated India in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2017. He was among the two extra players, the others being Abid Ali for Pakistan’s upcoming ODI series against England, but not for the WC.

Even captain Sarfaraz seemed to have lost the zeal over Amir who averaged over 92 in the 14 games he played since the Champions Trophy final and also saw a decline in pace. He was even quoted as saying in the media that if the strike bowler fails to pick wickets regularly, it causes concern for the captain and also expressed uncertainty over Amir’s place in the squad. The apprehension proved to be true as the Inzamam-ul-Haq-led selection panel decided against picking the 27-year-old bowler.

Given his form over the past almost two years, he would not even qualify to be in the contention for a WC squad. Amir’s performance has been so bad that the second worst bowler in the list – Mark Wood – looked twice as good as him with 20 wickets at an average of around 48.

Amir’s economy rate could have saved him but didn’t

The only thing that could save Amir is his economy rate in the same period which is 4.58. Amir’s overall economy rate in ODIs is 4.78 which is among the best fast bowlers across the world have today (he is bettered only by Jasprit Bumrah) but since the job of the strike bowler is to take wickets at the end of the day, Amir’s failure on that front cost him a spot in Pakistan’s WC squad.

Here is how the fans reacted to Amir’s exclusion from the squad:

Get the latest Cricket News and updates from World Cup 2019, Match Predictions, Fantasy Cricket Tips and lots more on CricTracker.com.