Inzamam-ul-Haq: “He has taken retirement. If he wants to play for Pakistan, he will have to play first-class cricket and perform there. If he performs then he will definitely be considered. [The] selection door is not closed for any player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Inzamam-ul-Haq, who recently resigned as Pakistan chief selector due to conflict of interest issues, has confirmed that left-arm fast bowler Mohammad Amir can still return to the national team.
Amir retired from international cricket in December 2020 and has since been playing in various T20 leagues around the world.
In order for him to play for Pakistan again, Inzamam noted that he must come out of retirement and perform at the domestic level.
If he does well, the 31-year-old from Gujjar Khan will come into contention for selection.
“He has taken retirement. If he wants to play for Pakistan, he will have to play first-class cricket and perform there. If he performs then he will definitely be considered. [The] selection door is not closed for any player,” Inzamam was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Amir recently represented the Jamaica Tallawahs in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and finished as the joint third-highest wicket-taker with 16 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 13.75 and an economy rate of 6.87.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan team are currently playing in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where they began with victories over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
They managed to break their losing streak with much-needed wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand.
Since they still have a chance of making it to the World Cup semi-finals, Pakistan will be eager to triumph over England when they meet on November 11 in Kolkata.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali