Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi has opened the door for Mohammad Amir to come out of retirement and play for Pakistan again. Amir, who had a rough time with former coaches Misbah ul Haq and Waqar Younis, took retirement in December 2020. Meanwhile, Sethi has stated if a player has served a particular ban time, he can be given a second chance to play.
Sethi, who has replaced Ramiz Raja as the PCB chief, has said in an interview that the board would have no objection if Amir wants to come out of retirement. "Amir has been a very good performer for Pakistan and we have no problems if he wants to make himself available for selection again," he added of the pacer who was banned for five years for his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal in England in 2010.
Sethi has also permitted Amir to train at the High-Performance Centre in Lahore, a venue where he was persona non grata during the 14-month tenure of Raja after his fallout with former coaches Misbah ul Haq and Waqar Younis and took retirement from international cricket in December 2020. Sethi said that he had different thinking from Raja as far as players who have served bans are concerned. "My thinking is that once a player has completed his ban he deserves a second chance like everyone else," he said. Sethi was in the cricket board and played a big role in fast-tracking back Amir into the national team in early 2016 after he had completed his five-year ban.
Amir had a public fallout with Misbah and Waqar and also didn't see eye to eye with the chairman and CEO of the PCB in 2020, Ehsan Mani and Wasim Khan. Ramiz recently lashed out at Amir for his critical tweets about Pakistan cricket and said he would never have allowed him to play for Pakistan again. Since Sethi took over and appointed Shahid Afridi as interim chief selector, batter, Sharjeel Khan has been called up in the list of probable for the coming one-day series at home against New Zealand.Sharjeel also served a ban and fine for his involvement in spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League but he has also been given a second chance.
Amir had congratulated Najam Sethi as soon as he replaced Ramiz and said the right person had taken over the affairs of the cricket board. He also accused Ramiz of not listening to others and having a what is say is right attitude. Amir told the media that he has not yet decided when to come out of retirement but sources close to him said the pacer only wants to play in white-ball formats for Pakistan and will not take back his decision to retire from Test cricket. One source also confirmed that former head coach, Mickey Arthur is also expected to confirm his availability for the Pakistan team by next week.
