Karachi: Pakistan's left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir is aiming to reduce his workload by playing lesser number of Tests. Amir, who made a comeback to the Pakistan team in early 2015 after serving a five-year ban for spot-fixing, said he will be initially reducing his Test workload to have more impact and play more for Pakistan.
I am not saying that I will give up playing Tests. But I will be targeting only the important ones and also try to manage my career in such a way that I can continue to play without any fitness issues for a long while, he said.
Insisting, he was human and physically and mentally felt the strain of non-stop cricket since his comeback to the national side, Amir said in an interview that it was not easy for him to make an international comeback.
If I had played those five years my Test count would have been around 60 to 70. But my passion remains for the game and I want to continue playing for a long time for my country and my fans.
The only way to do is manage the workload intelligently and I have spoken to our coach about it, he added.
He noted that since his comeback to the national side he had bowled nearly 800 overs in all three formats and he knew his body needed to be managed. I think with the amount of cricket being played these days with more and more T20 leagues coming in fast bowlers now need to manage their workloads properly. Our coach is working on a rotation policy until the 2019 World Cup and it is a good move, he said.
Despite being Pakistan's top pacer, Amir has not enjoyed the sort of success in terms of wickets that fans expected from him since his return to the national side. Even in the just concluded Pakistan Super League, he managed nine wickets from 11 games and in his last four Tests he has taken just four wickets.
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