Imad and Aamir: Should retired cricketers be given another chance?

Pakistan has also become the country that has defeated national politics in terms of cricket.

Here, when anyone wants to join the national team and kicks away when the heart wants to. And all the while he shows pride and arrogance Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) keeps bowing before him.

He fulfills his every legitimate and illegitimate wish, even taking away the captaincy and handing it over to him, whether his performance is remarkable or not.

Imad Wasim is the latest example of him bidding farewell to the national team to play in the Dubai League and arriving in the Dubai League loaded with cash, another teammate, Mohammad Amir, was waiting for him.

Imad Wasim had a complaint with the PCB that it dropped him from the national team and did not allow him to play any matches throughout the year. In April last year, Imad had issued a strong threat to the board saying that he would take strict action if he was dropped without any reason.

His style was amazing!

Imad Wasim last played for Pakistan in the series against New Zealand in 2023 in which he took eight wickets and scored 52 runs in five matches. After this series, since there was no T20 series for Pakistan, they could not get a chance.

Imad Wasim’s complaint was that he was not included in the ODI team. On the basis of which he could not be selected for the World Cup.

Dissensions and Retirement from the Board

Imad Wasim meanwhile participated in the Caribbean and Dubai leagues. After not getting the NOC of the Dubai League, he got angry and made strong statements against the board.

The Dubai League’s differences with the PCB are no secret. And PCB’s Zaka Ashraf administration wanted to block the path of every Pakistani player in the Dubai League. This was one of the reasons why NOC was not given to Imad Wasim.

However, in the meantime, Imad Wasim was asked to participate in domestic cricket, but on a TV channel, he clearly announced that he will not participate in this lower-level domestic cricket.

After receiving a clear response from the board, Imad Wasim announced his retirement from international cricket, after which PCB sanctions could not be applied to him.

Conditional termination of retirement

Although his performance in the recent Pakistan Super League (PSL) was not very impressive, his victorious performances in the last three play-off matches made him an instant hero.

Political anchors who are not familiar with cricket put pressure on the board by calling him an integral part of the national team. Then what happened till yesterday, Imad Wasim, who had always vowed, now became an independent player and started threatening the board that he will take back his retirement if he is allowed in the team.

The board also secretly accepted everything and broke its own rules. However, Imad Wasim has often been criticizing Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and other players in the media. The important question is whether his return will not spoil the atmosphere of the dressing room.

Imad Wasim with an average career who has scored 65 wickets and 486 runs in 66 matches. Which by no means reflect a high quality all-rounder. It is difficult to get a place in his current team, but he has now become the owner of more powers than the PCB chairman. Perhaps now the captain will also become his will and it seems that what he will say will be a stone line.

In the innocence with which PCB accepted all their conditions and sat on their heads, more than love for Imad, a selector’s antagonism with Babar Azam who wants to break the Babar group in any case is seen.

Mohammad Amir is also back

After the infamous fixing scandal at Lord’s, Mohammad Amir was lucky to be reinstated into the national team after his ban ended. Otherwise, his other two companions continued to rub their heels but could not find the well.

Muhammad Amir, who flashed like lightning in his prime, was widely thought to be Pakistan’s second Wasim Akram, but apparently the flash of money took him down a negative path.

In the second half of his career, he lost the chops and chops of his bowling that had once troubled great batsmen. The only sight of Amir’s bowling was when he took India’s first three-wicket haul in the Champions Trophy final in 2017.

Aamir could not show any special performance after that. In the 2019 World Cup, a lot of attention was focused on him, but he failed miserably and could not play any role in the team’s victory. Due to his deteriorating performance, he retired from Test cricket.

He was a part of the Pakistan team on the tour of England in 2020, but due to poor performance, he could not play all three T20 matches. On his return from the tour, he wanted to play franchise leagues but was upset when he did not get the NOC from the board. He had announced his retirement from international cricket citing the board’s refusal as a cause of mental anguish.

After his retirement from international cricket, he continued to participate in franchise leagues but failed to produce any notable performances. However, most of the leagues consisted of retired and low-quality players.

In the recent PSL, he was a part of Quetta Gladiators but could not bowl any notable matches in a single match. His performance was below average.

However, on certain occasions, his aggressive behavior became his hallmark.

A Style by Mohammad Amir on 12 March 2024 at Karachi Stadium (PCB)

Is the PSL the standard for the national team?

In Pakistan cricket, anyone is suddenly made a hero at some point. Inducted into the national team after half an innings of PSL. In the past, Sharjeel Khan, Azam Khan, Saeem Ayub, Ehsanullah Abbas Afridi etc suddenly became part of the national team after a couple of performances.

But the standard and environment of international cricket is much higher and tougher than PSL. A well-organized and high-quality cricket has to be played there, so these players failed miserably.

By making PSL the standard, now a few players are being emphasized to be a part of the national team, but the new selection committee, which has only old faces, should understand that there is no competition between the quality of PSL and the World Cup. Example

In international cricket one has to bear pressure and prepare oneself for hundred percent performance whereas in PSL cricket is not seen at all under competition and pressure. Short grounds, substandard fielding made even average players man of the match. Some of the batsmen’s innings was aided by the poor fielding of the opposition team more than they were capable of.

Should retired players come back?

Although there is no harm in it and any player can benefit the national team. Its performance, fitness, stamina are better and if its place is created, it would not be beyond reason to add it. But if any player is included on his terms and demands, it will not only increase the autonomy of that player but also spoil the atmosphere of the team.

Several players have refused the leagues due to non-receipt of NOC, among which Babar Azam is at the top. Would they also take temporary retirement and accumulate crores of rupees and then come back?

Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir retired as their ambitions were not fulfilled and they were playing franchise leagues when they should have been playing domestic cricket.

The PCB officials have to think whether it is admirable for any player to announce his retirement whenever he wants and come back to the team on his own terms whenever he wants. Then the board should also welcome him in such a way that the government will come! We are keeping our eyes on your paths. You can come and go when you want.

The performance of Imad Wasim and Muhammad Amir cannot be a basis for inclusion in the national team at present, but if they are to be included in the national team, they should first participate in domestic cricket and prove their ability.

If they are parachuted in, the PCB should cancel all the rules and regulations it has laid down for reaching the national team.

In England, Australia and other countries, the criterion for inclusion in the national team is domestic cricket and the performance of any franchise league is not taken into account at the time of selection. If a player retires once, he is not retired again.

We have the example of England’s Jason Roy when he was in very good form and the selectors did not consider his name for an important match like the World Cup, preferring the American league on the tour of Bangladesh.

Can PCB chief Mohsin Naqvi understand something from this example that when players do not give importance to the national team and choose their own format, they are not treated with exception but they are punished.

But in Pakistan, there is such a tradition and not a strategy because grouping and power sharing from the management to the players have made them captive to interests and blind to principles.

Both among 29 players for fitness camp

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced the names of 29 players to participate in the fitness camp held in Kakul, Abbottabad from Tuesday, including Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir.

Pakistan Cricket Board is organizing this camp in collaboration with Pakistan Army in which according to a special strategy the players will be prepared for the upcoming series and tournament including home T20 series against New Zealand and T20 series against Ireland and England. Twenty20 series and the upcoming ICCT Twenty20 World Cup in America, West Indies are included.

The camp will end on April 8. The players included in the camp are Babar Azam, Muhammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Fakhar Zaman, Sahibzada Farhan, Haseebullah, Saud Shakeel, Usman Khan, Muhammad Haris, Salman Ali Agha, Azam Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Irfan Khan Niazi, Shadab Khan, Imad Wasim. , Osama Mir, Muhammad Nawaz, Mehran Mumtaz, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Muhammad Abbas Afridi, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Ali, Zaman Khan, Wasim Jr., Aamir Jamal, Haris Rauf and Muhammad Amir.

Note: This analysis is based on the author’s opinion and not necessarily the institution’s agreement.

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