Mohammad Amir reveals reason behind retirement from international cricket

Veteran pacer Mohammad Amir has revealed that he announced retirement from international cricket due to lack of respect.

The 29-year-old made himself unavailable to represent the national team in a surprising decision last year where he accused the team management of targeting him following his decision to retire from Test cricket.

In an interview with PakPassion, Amir revealed that he was suffering from mental stress before taking the decision.

“What matters most to me is respect,” he said. “I felt that I wasn’t getting the respect I deserved and that’s why I took the decision to retire. The people in charge of Pakistan cricket have their job to do, they have their responsibilities and have their decisions to make, and I have my career to continue and look forward to, so we all should move on, as right now I am happy with my life.

“I was suffering from mental pressure and I would be very surprised if I was the only one who has gone through this. Some players are too frightened to do anything about it or speak up about it because there are a lot of things which are outside the control of players. If the team management isn’t giving a player any respect then that is going to affect the player.”

Amir has represented Pakistan in 36 Tests, 61 ODIs and 50 T20Is in his career where he managed to claim 259 wickets, which included five five-wicket hauls.