Famous young cricketer quits international cricket, says he was mentally tortured

28-year-old Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir has announced his retirement from international cricket, claiming that he was being mentally tortured and treated badly by the management.

Mohammad Amir had already retired from Tests after he was not selected in a 35-member squad for the New Zealand series last month and also the home series against Zimbabwe. The cricketer mentioned in a statement, “I don’t want to play international cricket anymore. I was always available for white ball cricket but I have had shabby treatment from the team management who have mentally tortured me, and that’s unacceptable.” Alleging that he was taunted and frequently sidelined by them, Amir added, “I don’t think I can bear such torture. I’ve borne lots of torture from 2010 to 2015, for which I served my time. I’ve been tortured by being told the PCB invested a lot in me. I’ll just say two people invested in me a lot: [former PCB chairman] Najam Sethi and [former Pakistan captain] Shahid Afridi.”

“They were the only two. The rest of the team was saying, ‘we don’t want to play with Amir’. Recently, the atmosphere that’s been created means I get taunted all the time by being told I don’t want to play for my country. Who doesn’t want to play for their country? Every two months, someone says something against me. Sometimes the bowling coach [Waqar Younis] says Amir ditched us, sometimes I’m told my workload is unsatisfactory. Enough is enough.”

In response to Amir’s claims, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) mentioned in a statement, “Pakistan Cricket Board chief executive Wasim Khan spoke with Mohammad Amir this afternoon following reports that the fast bowler had announced his retirement from international cricket. The 28-year-old confirmed to the PCB chief executive that he has no desires or intensions of playing international cricket and as such, he should not be considered for future international matches. This is a personal decision of Mohammad Amir, which the PCB respects, and as such, will not make any further comment on this matter at this stage.”