Azhar Ali: “If any player is involved in these things, he should never play for Pakistan again”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan selector Azhar Ali has admitted that he never wanted left-arm seamer Mohammad Amir to play for the national team after he was involved in spot-fixing.
Amir was indicted in the scandal in 2010, along with former captain Salman Butt and pace bowler Mohammad Asif.
Azhar, who is also the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) head of youth development, held the view that any player who had taken part in such illegal activities didn’t deserve to represent the country.
When Amir was poised to make his international comeback in January 2016, Azhar recalled how he not only boycotted a camp being held but was also ready to give up the captaincy.
“I think when Amir was coming back, at that point I felt that wasn’t – nothing against Amir as a person – but setting an example is very important. When will you draw the full stop on these issues. So it was my stand that even if a player or two are saying that this should not happen, so there were 5-6 people who wanted [something] we should not be compromising on,” he told Cricwick.
“But it was badly handled by the committee at that time, by the PCB. We said that there should be a meeting So even that time, I told my father that I want to boycott the camp. So he said you’re perfectly doing the right thing. So I boycotted that [camp] and (Mohammad) Hafeez bhai was with me at that time.
“Then after that, the PCB chairman called up my dad and told [him] to talk to me. Anyways, my dad said that his point is also right. They have taken a decision. So I said that I will resign from [the] captaincy because I have done a big thing, but then he was able to convince me again. But in the end, we had our stance and the protest went that it must be if any player is involved in these things, he should never play for Pakistan again.”
Amir retired from international cricket in December 2020 before coming out of retirement for the 2024 T20 World Cup, where he took seven wickets in four matches at an average of 10.28.
The 32-year-old didn’t represent Pakistan again after the tournament and ended his international career once again in December 2024.
Amir wasn’t considered for Pakistan’s recent tours of Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
After this, the men in green took on the West Indies in a two-Test series in Multan, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
They are now playing an ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa.
Once that finishes, Pakistan will feature in the 2025 Champions Trophy, which will be held from February 19 to March 9.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
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