One of the current contemporary best pacers of Pakistan, Mohammad Amir announced retirement from Test cricket on Friday. While at such a tender age of 27 it comes as a shock to the most, Amir explained how wants to focus more on limited-overs cricket. With the World Test Championship approaching soon Mohammad Amir wants the young reserve bench of fast bowlers in the country to get the attention of selectors as he is targeting next year’s Twenty 20 World Cup in Australia.
Since his debut in Test cricket in 2009, Mohammad Amir played only 36 matches and took 119 wickets at an average of 30.47. His journey began with a match against Sri Lanka and played his last Test match against South Africa. His four five-wicket hauls are certainly the highlight of his ten-year-long Test career.
Mohammad Amir’s 5/79 v Australia in 2009
Just a few months after his debut, Amir was included in the team for Australia tour. Initially, he struggled against the experienced and might Aussies. In the first Test at Melbourne Amir conceded 101 runs in the first innings and went wicketless. But then he fought back to clinch his first five-wicket haul. He ran through the Aussie middle order and took the wickets of Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke, Marcus North, and Brad Haddin. As a 17-year-old his brilliance against the then best batting line-up in the world cricket was fascinating.
5/52 v England in 2010
In 2010 Pakistan traveled to England and played a four-match Test series. Still young to the circuit, Amir showed his glimpses in the first two games and the truly unleashed himself in the second innings of the third Test. The then 18-year old lad registered the first five-wicket haul of his career at the Oval, to scalp Andrew Strauss, Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood, and Matt Prior. Amir became the youngest cricketer to achieve the feat in England. Amir was deservingly named the man of the match for the first time in his Test career.
6/84 v England in 2010
The next match at Lord’s of the same series saw Amir repeating his previous performance, in fact, delivering even a better one. Mohammad Amir took six wickets just for 84 runs scalping the likes of Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, and Graeme Swann. But this memory turned out to be a nightmare for the cricket world as the spot-fixing report came out on the third day of the Test. This changed Amir’s career forever and he was handed ban for five years,
6/44 v West Indies in 2017
Coming back from the ban Amir showed that he was as devastating as before. The first and only series he played in West Indies in 2017 and people got a taste of rejuvenated Mohammad Amir. The youngster returned to the arena as a full-grown man with a bittersweet experience of life. He finished with 6/44 in the first innings of the very first Test of the series at Kingston. He bagged Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Devendra Bishoo, Alzarri Joseph, and Shannon Gabriel.