As Mohammad Amir makes his comeback to the international stage after four years, anticipation is high to see this champion bowler perform again for Pakistan. However, apart from on-field performances, there are other things that still haunt him.
Amir was once known as the favorite son of controversy. He started his international career at the tender age of 17, making his debut against Sri Lanka. In his initial years, he began making an impact with his fiery, aggressive pace bowling. However, at the same pace, he joined hands with controversy. From spot-fixing to controversial remarks, Amir has been part of everything. In this article, we’ll take a look at the top three Mohammad Amir controversies that have almost destroyed his cricket career.
Top 3 Mohammad Amir controversies
2010 spot-fixing scandal
In 2010, Amir experienced the lowest point of his cricket career due to significant turmoil. At the age of 18, during the test series against England, particularly in the 4th test. Amir came under scrutiny as he, along with his teammates Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif, were found guilty of spot-fixing. He was found to have deliberately delivered no-balls.
This spot-fixing scandal shook the cricketing world and came with severe consequences for all three players. They were all banned from cricket. Amir, who was just 18 at the time, got a five-year ban and faced more criticism than any other culprit.
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Liking ‘terrorist country’ tweet
Apart from his on-field mistake, which resulted in a five-year ban, Amir found himself in trouble due to a few off-field errors. In 2019, when Amir was considering shifting his base from Pakistan and permanently moving to the United Kingdom to acquire British citizenship, he received a lot of backlash from his country.
Although he also received support from people across the country, it backfired when a user wrote, “Maybe he’s looking to leave a terrorist country,” and Amir liked the tweet. This single tweet sparked controversies, with people calling him a traitor and asking the PCB to ban him again. Although Amir apologized for this and said it was done by mistake, finally, after all this fuss, the incident took a back seat.
Clash with Pakistan Cricket Board
The incident took place when Mohammad Amir announced his retirement from international cricket in December 2020. In a statement, he lashed out at the PCB and blamed the management for their poor handling system.
Amir said, “I cannot handle it anymore, I have seen enough.” He further stated, “I have repeatedly heard that PCB invested a lot in me, but it is not true. Instead, I have faced enormous mental torture by the PCB management.” This statement received mixed reactions from the cricket fraternity and fans around the world. However, due to this, PCB and Amir suffered a bitter strain in their relationship.
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