Pacer Mohammad Amir felt it as more difficult to bowl against Pakistan captain Babar Azam than India skipper Virat Kohli. Amir, while talking to Cricket Pakistan in an exclusive interview, said Babar's stance made it difficult to bowl to him.
“If you compare Babar with Kohli, I find it difficult bowling to Babar because of his stance because if I take the ball away from him he plays the drive [through off-side] and if I bring the ball back in, he flicks it [through on-side],” said Amir on bowling to Babar and Kohli.
Amir also talked about the participation of Indian cricketers in the Pakistan Super League. He likes to bowl to the top class batsmen and with the likes of Virat and Rohit Sharma playing, it would be helpful for players from both countries.
“We have always said, as players, that cricket or any other sport, and politics should be kept separate,” said Amir. “I love challenges like bowling to top-notch batsmen and it would have been great to bowl to them [Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma]. Be it the IPL or PSL, it would be beneficial for players, from Pakistan and India, playing in these competitions in terms of exposure and quality of cricket.”
Karachi Kings won the PSL 2020 title for the first time and they dedicated it to the late Dean Jones, who used to be their coach.
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“Although it took us five years to win the trophy the good thing about Karachi Kings is that they trusted their local players and backed Imad Wasim as captain. If you look at some of the other franchises they tend to panic and change captains and players if results don’t go their way,” he said.
Amir further added, “When Dean Jones was announced as our coach we did not know how he would deal with the players but everything changed after our first meeting. The technical things he told us about the game were something I had not heard before which was an amazing experience. He worked really hard with Wasim bhai to form a winning team combination.”
The left-arm quick, who bagged 119 Test wickets at an average of 30.47, responded to the criticism on quitting Test cricket at an early age.
“People talk about my age and retirement but they don’t realize that I did not play cricket for five years. Even if you don’t start your car for a week, even that needs an oil change to get it running properly once again,” he said.
“My workload management was becoming a major issue which forced me to take that decision. I was continuously facing fitness issues and our physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon can confirm that I was number one on the treatment list, during England tour in 2018. If I had played all formats, I would have retired from international cricket by now.”
(With Cricket Pakistan Inputs)
