Amir announced his shock retirement from international cricket late last year, citing torture by the PCB management. While the left-arm seamer has 59 wickets from 50 T20Is for Pakistan, he has 220 wickets in 190 T20 matches overall at an average of 22.50.
In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Akram said about Amir, “I still think he should have a place in the Pakistan side. We have three white-ball World Cups in the coming years. I have been saying for a long time that bowlers come in packs. When you have a senior bowler in the pack, he can guide the young bowlers in pressure situations by talking with them. They can have quite an impact by giving them confidence and providing them with options.”
“When I had a senior bowler guiding me as a young bowler, I had Imran bhai and I would ask him before every ball. It gives you that added confidence when a senior bowler tells you to do something. I think that is also why Amir is so important,” he further added.
The former Pakistan captain added that although Amir has announced his retirement, he can still ask himself what his personal goals are. Amir first announced his retirement from Test cricket and then from international cricket altogether. Akram shared his views and said, “Amir should ask himself what his plans are for the future. He should ask himself what his personal goals are. He can get any league in the world. He is still one of the top bowlers in world T20 cricket.”
“If he retired from Test cricket, by the way, it was his problem. It was his decision. Why are we going against someone because he retired? A player knows about his own body, especially a bowler. Test cricket is not easy. If you haven’t played first-class cricket for five years, then your muscles aren’t used to bowling for that long. Amir should just play his cricket. There is no point to all of this. He said what he had to say and explained his point of view. Now he should just play cricket and enjoy his family life as well,” Akram further said.
-By A Cricket Correspondent